Where does Blazers-Clippers Game 5 rank among biggest moments in recent Portland Trail Blazers history?
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With the Portland Trail Blazers winning a pivotal Game 5 vs. the Clippers in Los Angeles Wednesday night -- in what could signal much more than just the turning point in their best-of-seven playoffs series -- we want to know where you think this game ranks among the biggest Blazers games in recent history.
With the Game 5 win, the Trail Blazers are in a commanding position to claim this series and advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Did anyone outside of the Blazers locker room think that was possible six months ago? One month ago? Last week?
Thanks to the Game 5 win, the Blazers are on the verge of becoming just the 17th team to win a best-of-seven series after falling behind 0-2. You want long odds? Entering the 2016 playoffs, teams that fell behind 0-2 in a best-of-seven series had gone on to drop the series 94 percent of the time.
So we're asking you: Where does the Game 5 win rank? Does it mark a significant turning point for the franchise and a way-earlier-than-expected-arrival of this most recent rebuilding effort? Or is just another win?
Here's a look at four of the biggest Blazers games since 2000:
Many of you will remember the Trail Blazers' Game 7 loss in the 2000 Western Conference Finals at the hands of Shaq, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. A win in that game would have seen the Blazers make the NBA Finals where they would have been considered a comfortable favorite over the Indiana Pacers. It was arguably their best chance to win an NBA title since their 1977 season. Instead, the Blazers wilted in the second half of that game and the rest is history. Portland would not win another playoff series until 2013-14. We'll get to that later.
In the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Trail Blazers had fought and clawed their way into a Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Zach Randolph was an emerging force and it became clear that Portland was poised to make some serious changes following a first-round exit. That's exactly what happened. The Blazers fell to Dallas in that game and an era of Trail Blazers basketball came to a close. Scottie Pippen left for the Chicago Bulls over the summer while Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace were traded away during the following season.
In 2011, the Blazers were a team on the decline, and it looked like it was the last chance for this injury-plagued group to reach their potential in the postseason with a first round series against the Dallas Mavericks. The Blazers were down 2-1 in the series and trailing at home in Game 4. And then Brandon Roy happened. His heroic comeback is what cemented him as a legend in Trail Blazers history as the hobbled guard came off the bench to score 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and the Blazers leveled the series at 2-2 in a thrilling game. The Blazers would go on to lose the series in 6 games and Brandon Roy retired before the start of the following season.
The Blazers were a team on the rise in 2013-14 as Damian Lillard continued to improve in his sophomore year. In a tightly-contested series with the Houston Rockets, the Blazers were coming home to Portland in Game 6 with a 3-2 series lead. Following a Chandler Parsons layup on a broken play, Portland trailed Houston 98-96 with .9 seconds remaining in the content. Damian Lillard came across the court, clapped for the ball and hit a fading three-pointer over Parsons as time expired to win the game and the series which put the Blazers into the second round for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. So, we ask you again, where does Blazers-Clippers Game 5 rank among biggest moment in recent Blazers history? Vote in our poll provided below and then head to the comments section and let us know how you voted and why.
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