4-0 To Start!
Rarified air that it is
A new season is upon us and the Blazers jumped out to a 4-0 record despite many experts thinking Portland is a weaker member of the Western Conference. While the future is still unknown, except that the Blazers won’t finish 82-0, there have been a few times the Blazers jumped out to an undefeated starts of 4-0
In 1979, only two years removed from the Championship season, the Blazers entered a new season with only 6 players remaining from that season, 3 of which didn’t even finish the season. Lloyd Neal was on the roster but didn’t play a minute. Larry Steele could only play 16 games before retiring. Dave Twardzik played 67 games but this was his last season as well. Maurice Lucas and Lionel Hollins were each traded at the deadline in February. Only Bob Gross played this season and beyond in the red and black.
That said, the Blazers jumped out to a 9-0 record, even beating the eventual champion Lakers! In Los Angeles! With 5 of the named players above on the injured roster to boot. Rookies Abdul Jeelani and Jim Paxson played some good minutes and the Blazers defeated their former assistant turned head coach Jack McKinney. The streak ended when Phoenix Suns forward Walter Davis hit a buzzer beater in game 10 to squeak out a 1-point win. The Blazers suffered through the season of trades and new players to get to 38 wins but made the playoffs when Billy Ray Bates came to the rescue.
Two seasons later, the Blazers jumped out to a 7-0 record. A mediocre team that finished with 42 wins and was the only team between 1977 and 2004 that didn’t make the playoffs despite having the nucleus of the team just two seasons before.
Hard to top a 7 or 9-game winning streak but in 1990, the defending Western Conference champions did just that, getting out to an 11-0 record. Granted, the 90/91 team was expected to win a lot, but no one expected that streak. Two wins were very satisfying as the Blazers beat the Pistons and the Lakers. The Pistons of course defeated the Blazers in the Finals just months before and the Lakers, while struggling, were the Lakers. The Suns again stopped the streak but Portland went on another 8-game streak to get to 19-1, which at the time was the best 20-game start in NBA History.
Just 2 years later, an 8-0 start seemed like a natural thing to happen, and dammit if those pesky Suns didn’t stop another streak. Losing the championship the season before, the Blazers needed to come out of the gate strong and they did but soon the team seemed to think they could hit a streak anytime they wanted. Turns out they couldn’t and lost in the 1st round of the playoffs for the first time in 5 years.
The 1999/2000 team was highly anticipated with the arrival of Scottie Pippen joining a team that lost in the Western Conference Finals the years before and had a 4-game streak to start the year. After a road loss to the Jazz, they went on 6-game streak as well to get to 10-1. The Blazers lived up to expectations, winning 59 games before losing in the WCF again.
Here’s hoping that a 4-0 start can lead to good things.