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Blazers, Jazz playoff streaks end
The last time both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz missed the playoffs, Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks teamed with Julius Erving and Darryl Dawkins to go to the NBA Finals with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The next year the Trail Blazers started a run of 21 playoff seasons, and the Jazz joined them in 1984 ¡ª long before anyone in Salt Lake City had heard much about John Stockton or Karl Malone.
Things stayed that way for 20 years, but both streaks ended Monday when the Denver Nuggets clinched the final spot in the Western Conference.
The league's longest active streak, 10 seasons, now belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Trail Blazers finished one postseason appearance shy of the NBA record 22 by Syracuse-Philadelphia from 1950 to 1971.
Many of the players and coach Cheeks said the team's chances were probably irreparably damaged by an overtime loss to the Nuggets on Saturday.
"We just couldn't refocus our energy," Cheeks said. "It was as if we had nothing else to give."
After starting with a 10-game losing streak on the road, Portland made numerous personnel changes. Bonzi Wells was sent to Memphis for Wesley Person and a first-round draft pick, Darius Miles was acquired from Cleveland for Jeff McInnis, and Rasheed Wallace and Person were shipped to Atlanta in early February for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau.
The moves were part of an effort by the Blazers management to clean up an image tainted by player arrests, team infighting and other conduct issues.
Portland recovered enough to go 17-14 after the Wallace trade, but got tangled in a race with Houston, Denver and Utah for the last two playoff spots.
"We'd be in the top five if we'd had a training camp with Theo, Shareef and Darius," Ruben Patterson said. "We all came together, but it was kind of late."
Utah's playoff hopes ended Monday night with a 104-90 loss at Minnesota, which was followed by Denver's 97-89 win over Sacramento.
"I don't think the streak was what we were concerned about. We were more concerned with getting to the playoffs," Jazz vice president for basketball operations Kevin O'Connor said.
The Jazz were one of the biggest surprises of the season. Stockton retired after his 19th season and Malone left as a free agent, ending an 18-year career in Utah.
"Everyone said we would be the worst team in the NBA," Andrei Kirilenko said. "We've stayed like a team. Not everybody has to star. We just try to help the hot guy." |
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