Apr
23
Crowd Energizes Trail Blazers and Trail Blazers Energize Crowd
By sarahhecht
There’s nothing like a Rose Garden crowd to bring the Trail Blazers back from the dead.
Not literally, of course, but very much figuratively. Trailing by 22 going into the fourth quarter with a 3-1 playoff deficit staring you in the face definitely qualifies as something close dead. After tonight’s comeback Portland fans should all be certified EMTs.
Portland players and fans knew this game was a breaking point. Win and tie the series 2-2 or lose knowing Game 4 might have been your last home game of the season. They took this as a challenge and rose mightily to the occasion.
With the first three quarters not going as planned, in the fourth the Trail Blazers needed to get hot from the start. There simply wasn’t enough time for a late push.
The crowd in the Rose Garden knew it, so they decided to step in. Roaring to life following Gerald Wallace’s basket to start the quarter, they didn’t sit or quiet until streamers fell and Mark Mason’s voice echoed through the rafters.
“Blazers win! Bla-zers win!”
The raucous atmosphere in the Rose Garden is the norm in Portland, but tonight Rip City upped their game and the players took notice.
“The energy in the building just kinda took over for us,” Andre Miller said. The boisterous fans even hyped Miller up. He was jumping and hollering, which isn’t the norm for the ultra-cool character.
Words and phrases like “tremendous,” “as advertised” and “loudest crowd I’ve been around,” were used by the Trail Blazers to describe the impact of the Portland faithful in attendance.
“The Crowd was something else, we contribute a lot of this win to them,” Wesley Matthews said.
Success is the achievement of thousands of hoarse voices. Well done my friends. Let's do it again Thursday.
Uprise.