But it is hard to find much to wax eloquent about in Portland’s performance in Game 1 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Maybe it was the nine-day layoff after eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers, but Portland’s venerated passing attack resulted in an unsightly 34 turnovers. Three starters for the Trail Blazers — Maurice Lucas, Bobby Gross and Lionel Hollins — fouled out of the sloppy game.

While we’re on the subject, if you haven’t read David Halberstam’s Breaks of the Game yet, you should probably lend your laptop to your household pet for a couple hours and dig in.