Warriors expect raucous crowd in Portland
When Bill Walton played for the Trail Blazers, fans would leave offerings on the porch of his home in northwest Portland and line the path of his game-day bike rides through the city and across the Willamette River to cheer the Hall of Famer.
Not much has changed since that championship season of 1976-77 as Portland is still regarded as having one of the NBA’s best fan bases and one of the league’s top home-court advantages.
“The fans always treated me nicer than I ever deserved,” Walton said in a Friday phone interview.
From starting the night by passing the game ball from fans sitting near the rafters to the ones at courtside, the Portland crowd sets a tone of community.
The fans are well informed, know the names of the officials and create some of the league’s most creative signs.
During the Blazers’ first-round victory over the Clippers, one fan held up a sign that read: Damian Lillard = baby in commercial.
The crowd was raucous during the series, in which the Blazers won all three of their home games, and the Warriors expect the decibel level to be absurd for Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series, which they lead 2-0.
Portland has had nine straight winning seasons at home and closed this season by winning 18 of 21 games at the Moda Center — formerly known as the Rose Garden.
The Blazers handed the Warriors their most lopsided loss of the season, a 137-102 drubbing Feb. 9 in which Lillard scored a career-high 51 points.
The Warriors are 28-80 all-time at Portland, and the Blazers are 79-37 at home during the franchise’s postseason history.
Because of their many ties to Portland, the Warriors have a good grasp on the hostile environment they’re about to enter.
Jim Barnett, who has been the Warriors’ TV analyst since 1985-86, played for the Blazers during their 1970-71 expansion season and scored the franchise’s first points in both the exhibition and regular seasons.
Starting in 1976, the Blazers sold out every home game for 18 straight seasons.
Walton played with Maurice Lucas during those years, and named his son, Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, after the enforcer.
Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson lived in Portland during some of that run.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr played for Portland in 2001-02 and agreed with Thompson that starting fast and quieting the Blazers’ crowd is important.