City Rallies Behind Blazers As Playoffs Approach

By Bradley W. Parks (OPB)
Portland, Oregon April 16, 2016 12:04 a.m.
Fans rush from the Moda Center after the Portland Trail Blazers' 110-93 win over the Miami Heat on April 2, 2016.

Fans rush from the Moda Center after the Portland Trail Blazers' 110-93 win over the Miami Heat on April 2, 2016.

Bradley W. Parks / OPB

Ian Thomas, a New Zealander visiting Portland for a week, stood outside the Rose Quarter Transit Center with a free Trail Blazers shirt slung over his shoulder.

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He was waiting for a MAX train after leaving the Blazers regular season finale against the Denver Nuggets on April 13, which the team won 107–99 to clinch the fifth seed in the playoffs in the Western Conference. Thomas was in town for a week and surprised by the fraternity he found inside the Moda Center.

“People seem to know each other really well and they know the players and they know the game,” he said. “It was very communal, very much a social environment that was quite different than what I was expecting.”

The team opens the playoffs Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers, lighting a flame in the Portland fan base.

Chris Moore lives in Salem and has been a season-ticket holder for years. He said the resiliency of Blazers fans after down times is what makes them unique.

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A fan poses for a photo with Blaze, the Portland Trail Blazers mascot on April 2, 2016.

A fan poses for a photo with Blaze, the Portland Trail Blazers mascot on April 2, 2016.

Bradley W. Parks / OPB

Portland overcame what now seem like shockingly low expectations extending from an offseason that left the team with just one returning starter.

“You didn’t see Blazers fans fade away,” Moore said. “What you saw was them look at possibilities and probably believe when we shouldn’t have believed.”

Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have become the new faces of the franchise after others moved on. Meanwhile, players like Mason Plumlee, Allen Crabbe and Al-Farouq Aminu buoyed a roster that runs 10 or 11 deep.

“Portland is a city that’s really about kind of quirky, eccentric people doing your own thing, but finding some common values that people can rally around,” Moore said. “And I think this is one of those teams that kind of embodies that value set.”

Fans have responded. Portland again finished in the top 10 in the NBA in attendance this season, as it has done since 2008.

Mason Plumlee shoots over Miami defenders in the Portland Trail Blazers' 110-93 win over the Heat on April 2, 2016.

Mason Plumlee shoots over Miami defenders in the Portland Trail Blazers' 110-93 win over the Heat on April 2, 2016.

Bradley W. Parks / OPB

The Blazers' success is a point of pride for Portlanders that shows itself in a number of ways — from Rip City bumper stickers to stage-worthy Blazers gear on artists at the Soul'd Out Music Festival.

“I guess it’s just a real excited feeling, especially with all the doubt with the team at the beginning of the season,” said Chris Roberts, a Portlander and lifelong Blazers fan.

The team’s first two playoff games will be in L.A. before returning to the Moda Center Saturday, April 23 in a best-of-seven series with the Clippers. The Blazers are 1–3 against the Clippers so far this season.

Portland is an 8-point underdog heading into the series. But as the Blazers have proven this season, odds are theirs for the beating

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