1996–97 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1996–97 NBA season was the 27th season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association.[1] During the offseason, the Blazers signed free agent Kenny Anderson while acquiring Isaiah Rider from the Minnesota Timberwolves, and second-year forward Rasheed Wallace from the Washington Bullets. The Blazers would hover around .500 for most of the first half of the season as they traded Aaron McKie to the Detroit Pistons for Stacey Augmon at midseason. However, they posted a 13–2 record in March including an 11-game winning streak. The Blazers finished the season third in the Pacific Division, and fifth in the Western Conference with a 49–33 record. Making their 15th straight trip to the postseason and 20th in 21 years.

1996–97 Portland Trail Blazers season
Head coachP.J. Carlesimo
ArenaRose Garden Arena
Results
Record49–33 (.598)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Pacific)
Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finishWest First Round
(Lost to Lakers 1–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKGW
Fox Sports Northwest
RadioKEX

The Blazers faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and were defeated 1–3, marking the fifth straight year they were eliminated in the first round. Following the season, Clifford Robinson signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns, and Chris Dudley was traded to the New York Knicks.

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 17 Jermaine O'Neal PF/C  United States Eau Claire HS (Columbia, SC)
2 46 Marcus Brown PG  United States Murray State

Roster
Roster listing
Portland Trail Blazers roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
PG 7 Anderson, Kenny 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Georgia Tech
SF 2 Augmon, Stacey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) UNLV
PG 4 Brown, Marcus  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Murray State
SG 6 Butler, Mitchell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) UCLA
C 20 Dudley, Chris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Yale
PF 5 O'Neal, Jermaine 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 226 lb (103 kg) Eau Claire HS (SC)
SG 34 Rider, Isaiah 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) UNLV
SF 3 Robinson, Clifford 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Connecticut
PG 21 Robinson, Rumeal 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Michigan
C 11 Sabonis, Arvydas 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 279 lb (127 kg) Lithuania
PF 33 Trent, Gary 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Ohio
PF 30 Wallace, Rasheed 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) North Carolina
SF 10 Wingfield, Dontonio 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 256 lb (116 kg) Cincinnati
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics 5725.695–31–1026–1516–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers 5626.683131–1025–1618–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4933.598829–1220–2115–9
x-Phoenix Suns 4042.4881725–1615–2613–11
x-Los Angeles Clippers 3646.4392121–2015–2610–14
Sacramento Kings 3448.4152322–1912–298–16
Golden State Warriors 3052.3662718–2312–294–20
1996–97 NBA West standings
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Utah Jazz6418.780–
2 y-Seattle SuperSonics5725.6957
3 x-Houston Rockets5725.6957
4 x-Los Angeles Lakers5626.6838
5 x-Portland Trail Blazers4933.59815
6 x-Minnesota Timberwolves4042.48824
7 x-Phoenix Suns4042.48824
8 x-Los Angeles Clippers3646.43928
9 Sacramento Kings3448.41530
10 Golden State Warriors3052.36634
11 Dallas Mavericks2458.29340
12 Denver Nuggets2161.25643
13 San Antonio Spurs2062.24444
14 Vancouver Grizzlies1468.17150
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1996-97 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHA CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIA MIL MIN NJN NYK ORL PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA TOR UTA VAN WAS
Atlanta —3–11–31–33–12–01–11–32–01–13–12–01–11–24–02–03–11–33–14–01–12–02–02–01–14–01–12–02–1
Boston 1–3—0–40–41–21–11–10–41–10–21–20–21–10–41–30–20–40–40–41–31–11–10–21–10–23–10–20–20–4
Charlotte 3–14–0—0–43–11–12–02–22–02–02–21–11–11–22–22–04–03–11–24–01–10–22–02–02–02–20–22–03–1
Chicago 3–14–04–0—3–12–02–03–12–01–14–02–01–12–24–02–03–12–23–04–02–02–02–02–02–03–11–12–02–1
Cleveland 1–32–11–31–3—2–01–12–21–10–23–12–01–10–42–22–04–01–32–23–01–11–12–00–20–23–11–12–01–3
Dallas 0–21–11–10–20–2—3–10–20–40–41–12–20–40–20–21–31–11–11–12–01–31–32–21–31–30–21–33–10–2
Denver 1–11–10–20–21–11–3—0–21–31–30–21–30–40–21–10–41–10–20–21–12–20–42–22–20–41–10–43–11–1
Detroit 3–14–02–21–32–22–02–0—2–01–13–12–01–10–43–12–04–01–22–22–10–21–11–12–01–13–11–12–04–0
Golden State 0–21–10–20–21–14–03–10–2—0–41–11–30–40–21–11–32–00–21–12–00–42–21–34–00–42–00–43–10–2
Houston 1–12–00–21–12–04–03–11–14–0—1–13–13–10–21–14–02–01–10–22–02–22–24–03–13–11–12–23–12–0
Indiana 1–32–12–20–41–31–12–01–31–11–1—2–01–11–32–22–02–21–31–33–01–11–11–11–11–14–00–22–01–3
L.A. Clippers 0–22–01–10–20–22–23–10–23–11–30–2—2–20–22–01–31–10–21–11–12–20–42–24–01–32–01–34–00–2
L.A. Lakers 1–11–11–11–11–14–04–01–14–01–31–12–2—1–12–03–12–01–11–12–04–01–34–02–23–11–11–34–02–0
Miami 2–14–02–12–24–02–02–04–02–02–03–12–01–1—4–01–13–11–32–23–12–01–12–02–00–23–10–22–03–1
Milwaukee 0–43–12–20–42–22–01–11–31–11–12–20–20–20–4—0–22–11–22–23–11–10–20–21–11–13–11–12–01–3
Minnesota 0–22–00–20–20–23–14–00–23–10–40–23–11–31–12–0—2–01–11–11–13–12–20–44–00–41–11–34–01–1
New Jersey 1–34–00–41–30–41–11–10–40–20–22–21–10–21–31–20–2—2–21–32–21–10–21–12–01–10–30–22–01–3
New York 3–14–01–32–23–11–12–02–12–01–13–12–01–13–12–11–12–2—3–13–21–11–12–02–00–23–01–12–04–0
Orlando 1–34–02–10–32–21–12–02–21–12–03–11–11–12–22–21–13–11–3—2–21–12–01–11–11–14–00–21–11–3
Philadelphia 0–43–10–40–40–30–21–11–20–20–20–31–10–21–31–31–12–22–32–2—1–11–10–21–10–21–30–22–01–3
Phoenix 1–11–11–10–21–13–12–22–04–02–21–12–20–40–21–11–31–11–11–11–1—1–34–03–12–20–21–32–21–1
Portland 0–21–12–00–21–13–14–01–12–22–21–14–03–11–12–02–22–01–10–21–13–1—2–24–01–30–22–24–00–2
Sacramento 0–22–00–20–20–22–22–21–13–10–41–12–20–40–22–04–01–10–21–12–00–42–2—3–11–31–10–44–00–2
San Antonio 0–21–10–20–22–03–12–20–20–41–31–10–42–20–21–10–40–20–21–11–11–30–41–3—0–41–11–31–30–2
Seattle 1–12–00–20–22–03–14–01–14–01–31–13–11–32–01–14–01–12–01–12–02–23–13–14–0—2–01–34–02–0
Toronto 0–41–32–21–31–32–01–11–30–21–10–40–21–11–31–31–13–00–30–43–12–02–01–11–10–2—1–11–12–2
Utah 1–12–02–01–11–13–14–01–14–02–22–03–13–12–01–13–12–01–12–02–03–12–24–03–13–11–1—4–02–0
Vancouver 0–22–00–20–20–21–31–30–21–31–30–20–40–40–20–20–40–20–21–10–22–20–40–43–10–41–10–4—1–1
Washington 1–24–01–31–23–12–01–10–42–00–23–12–00–21–33–11–13–10–43–13–11–12–02–02–00–22–20–21–1—

Game log

Playoffs

West First Round

(4) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Portland Trail Blazers Last Playoff Meeting: 1992 Western Conference First Round (Portland won 3–1)

Game Date Home Score Visitor Score Record

(LAL-POR)

 Venue Recap Television
1 April 25 L.A. Lakers 95 Portland 77 1-0 Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, California 1 TNT
2 April 27 L.A. Lakers 107 Portland 93 2-0 Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, California 2 NBC
3 April 30 Portland 98 L.A. Lakers 90 2-1 Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon 3 TNT
4 May 2 Portland 91 L.A. Lakers 95 3-1 Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon 4 TNT
L.A. Lakers win series 3–1

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

Playoffs

Transactions

Trades
July 15, 1996 To Portland Trail Blazers
Mitchell Butler
Rasheed Wallace		 To Washington Bullets
Harvey Grant
Rod Strickland
July 23, 1996 To Portland Trail Blazers
Isaiah Rider		 To Minnesota Timberwolves
Bill Curley
James Robinson
1997 1st-round pick
January 24, 1997 To Portland Trail Blazers
Stacey Augmon		 To Detroit Pistons
Randolph Childress
Reggie Jordan
Aaron McKie

Free agents
Additions
Player Date signed Former team
Kenny Anderson July 23 Charlotte Hornets
Reggie Jordan August 30 Atlanta Hawks
Aleksandar Đorđević September 20 Fortitudo Bologna (Italy)
Ennis Whatley (10-day) January 24 Presto Tivolis (Philippines)
Ruben Nembhard (10-day) January 30 none
Rumeal Robinson (10-day) February 24 Connecticut Pride (CBA)
Subtractions
Player Date signed New Team
Buck Williams July 23 New York Knicks
Rumeal Robinson signed with team later in season
Elmore Spencer Seattle SuperSonics
Jason Sasser October 16 Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA)
Aleksandar Đorđević December 27 FC Barcelona (Spain)

References
  1. 1996-97 Portland Trail Blazers
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