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.

“Monty has proven to be a valuable asset on the bench in Portland,” Stefanski said. “He has a wealth of experience both as an assistant coach and as a player in this league.”

Gotta love the GM speak from Stefanski. Monty’s stock is clearly sky high considering he is also talking to New Orleans. Now, before you get to sad remember Philadelphia has been interviewing just about everyone and their mom for this job. I mean they even interviewed Thunder Dan Majerle on the same day, no need to panic yet. It just looks like Blazer fans should start prepping for the inevitable.