The Shot – What It Really Means For The Portland Trail Blazers

It was more than just a buzzer beater. It was more than just a win. It was more than just a team advancing in the playoffs. To understand exactly what Damian Lillard’s miraculous shot to beat the Houston Rockets meant to Portland, the city and not just the team, we must go back to one of the darkest moments in Blazers history.

June 4, 2000. The Portland Trail Blazers were a title contender that year. The dream of a championship was alive and well and visions of a parade in downtown Portland danced in every Blazer fans’ head. Then, this day happened. After taking a 15 point lead against the Los Angeles Lakers with just over 10 minutes left to play in the 4^th quarter of game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the Blazers suffered an epic collapse. Shots that fell for the first three quarters stopped falling for the Blazers. Meanwhile, the Lakers hit everything they threw up and it culminated in one heart stopping lob for a dunk that ended it all. It was gut wrenching to watch. For an entire city it was a heartbreaking experience. When all was said and done the Lakers advanced to the Finals and eventually carried away the trophy as Champions.  It marked the end of a dream for Portland. It died that day on the floor of the Staples Center and has since been long buried.

After that season, the team and the city were never the same. For the next three years the Blazers were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. After that, Portland turned into a punch line. The Jail Blazers era began and it was hard to see the team through all the pot smoke.  The losses began to pile up. Whispers of the team being sold echoed throughout the city. Losing seasons became the new normal. Hope sprang again with drafting of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in 2006 and the miracle of landing the number 1 pick in Greg Oden in 2007.  The future was looking brighter; the dream was making a comeback. However, it wasn’t long after that that the word ‘knees’ became the arch-nemesis of Portland. From 2007-2012 Greg Oden would play only 82 games for Portland as microfracture surgery after microfracture surgery took its toll. After some legendary performances and memorable shots, Brandon Roy’s body soon followed in deterioration. Roy could have been a legend but his knees betrayed him leaving us with just legendary moments instead of a legendary career. After a brief revival of hope, everything seemed lost again. Roy and Oden were gone. The team was without direction and seemingly cursed by the basketball gods. Why are we cursed? Why can’t we catch a break? Why can’t things go our way just once? These were just some of the questions a loyal fan base was asking.

With 2 of the 3 pillars gone LaMarcus Aldridge stepped up as the team’s leader. No longer was he the number 2 or 3 option, Aldridge was THE option. By the 2011-2012 season Aldridge had embraced his role as the team’s focal point. It makes you wonder how different his progression might have been without Roy’s or Oden’s unfortunate demise. Sometimes, you need to be forced into a role you were destined to be in. Since 2011 Aldridge has been an all-star, a dominant power forward in the NBA and it has been beautiful to watch in the midst of all the chaos that had come before it.

In 2012 the Blazers drafted Damian Lillard. The decision to draft Lillard, star of little known Weber State from the Big Sky Conference, may go down as the best decision the franchise as made in recent memory. Many will dispute the Greg Oden pick but very few general managers would have done anything different. The Brandon Roy pick gave the franchise hope and will never be considered a mistake and Aldridge is living up to his promise. Lillard, along with a core starting five that rivals any in the NBA, has resurrected the franchise. Aldridge is a rock and a true star in this league. Nicolas Batum is Mr. Do-Everything, his defense is almost always solid and when he decides to be assertive on offense look out. Wesley Matthews has no rival for heart. He loves to play and it shows. Nobody will work harder or hustle more than Wes.  Robin Lopez has exceeded expectations, a perfect fit for the vibe of Portland with his attitude and blue collar work ethic. Together, this team has done something incredible. They have revived a dream long thought buried underneath the Staples Center.

From that June night 14 years ago, we now flash forward to May 2^nd, 2014. The Blazers have a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of seven 1^st round series against the Houston Rockets. They were 0.9 seconds away from losing game 6 and having the series tied 3-3 heading back to Houston for game 7. If Portland were to have lost game 6 then we all know what the script would have been afterwards. There would have been yet another game 7 heartbreak. A golden opportunity to move on to round 2 would have been reduced to another first round exit. When Chandler Parsons made that put-back with less than a second left it seemed like the heart of Rip City had once gain been ripped out.

Then this happened.

In 0.9 seconds, Damian Lillard revitalized a franchise and allowed us to dream again. Never has one shot meant so much to one franchise or one city in terms of making believers again. Sure, the Blazers have had a successful season but to have been ousted in the first round after taking a 2-0 series lead would have been an awful way to end a season. Of course, we don’t know if Portland would have lost or won game 7 but who would have liked their chances? Since 2000 we have known nothing but disappointment and heartache. We have suffered through losing seasons, bad knees and bad attitudes. We have suffered through more bad luck than any other NBA franchise. Through all this the fans have stuck with this team through the worst of times, when the days of losing seemed never ending and ever expanding. Now, we are off to round 2 of the playoffs for the first time in 14 years and we can finally dream of something more than just a playoff appearance. We can finally dream of bigger things to come. Damian Lillard made sure of that. With one shot he changed everything. He made us believe anything is possible. There is a crater in the Staples Center tonight. It is from the resurrection of the hopes and dreams of Blazers fans. The future is bright again. Smile, Blazers fans, and dare to dream big. After everything that has happened over the past decade you deserve it. Dream like its 1977.