E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2019
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B1
Lillard has 29 as Blazers top Warriors
Blazers ready for their
50th birthday bash
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Damian Lil-
lard scored 29 points and the Port-
land Trail Blazers snapped Golden
State’s fi ve-game winning streak
with a chippy 129-107 victory
Wednesday night that included
the late ejection of Warriors coach
Steve Kerr.
Jake Layman added 17 points
off the bench for the Blazers, who
had eight players in double fi gures.
The win snapped a two-game skid.
Kevin Durant and Stephen
Curry each had 32 points for the
Warriors, who rested DeMarcus
Cousins following a victory at
home over Utah the night before.
After a tight three quarters,
Layman’s long jumper gave Port-
land a 104-101 lead in the fi nal
period before Zach Collins blocked
Damion Lee’s layup on the other
end.
Collins and Klay Thompson
exchanged words, and the frustra-
tion spilled over to players from
both sides. The two players were
given offsetting technical fouls.
Portland led 110-103 before
Draymond Green was called for a
fl agrant foul on Collins with 3:54
left. Kerr reacted angrily, throw-
ing his clipboard and yelling at the
offi cials before he was ejected.
Lillard made the three techni-
cal shots and Collins made his free
throws to give Portland a 115-103
lead. Layman added a 3-pointer to
all but seal the win.
In addition to Cousins, the War-
riors rested guard Shaun Living-
ston and forward Andre Iguodala.
Kerr said before the game that
Cousins and Livingston got the
night off because of the back-to-
back games, and Iguodala was
additionally a “little banged up.”
The Warriors started Kevon
Looney in Cousins’ place.
Earlier in the day, the Blazers
signed center Enes Kanter. Blazers
coach Terry Stotts said Kanter will
join the team for the Jan. 21 game
against Brooklyn following the
All-Star break. Kanter will back
up starter Jusuf Nurkic.
Durant led all scorers with
By DAVE NELSON
For the EO Media Group
AP Photo/Steve Dykes
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant, right, passes the ball over
Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu during an NBA basketball
game in Portland on Wednesday.
16 points in the fi rst quarter, and
Golden State led 33-31. Durant
played just fi ve minutes of the sec-
ond quarter as the Warriors turned
to their bench and fi nished the half
with 20 points.
The fi rst half was close — Port-
land held a slim 64-61 lead at the
break — and it stayed close in the
third quarter. Looney’s basket tied
it at 75 with just under nine min-
utes to go in the period.
The game fi rst got testy mid-
way through the quarter when
Durant pushed Nurkic after the
two appeared to exchange words,
but the offi cials quickly diffused
the situation.
Curry made back-to-back
3-pointers and the Warriors took
a 93-88 lead, but Lillard answered
with a 3.
It was on Feb. 6, 1970, when
one of Oregon’s most loved — if
not the most loved — sports fran-
chises came into existence. The
Portland Trail Blazers and Rip
City.
It all started with Harry Glick-
man, an entrepreneur of profes-
sional sports, having a dream of
top-level sports for his hometown
of Portland.
A group of local investors
and the NBA expansion commit-
tee met in Philadelphia, and the
expansion committee raised the
franchise price tag to $3.7 mil-
lion, causing the group of inves-
tors — who were prepared to give
$2 million — to back out, leav-
ing no fi nancial support to make
it happen.
Back in Portland, Glickman
got a call from then-Seattle Son-
ics general manager Dick Vert-
lieb, who, according to the team,
said he “knew a guy” who might
be interested in staking an NBA
franchise, but made it clear he was
not interested in being part of the
ownership.
That guy was Herman Sarkow-
sky, a home builder in Seattle, and
the possible interest of two devel-
oper friends, Larry Weinberg
(who would become owner of the
team) and Robert Schmertz.
The league had set a dead-
line to select its new teams, and
when the deadline rolled around,
Glickman still hadn’t heard from
Sarkowsky.
Glickman went to Los Angeles
with only a scheme to try and per-
suade the NBA’s Board of Gover-
nors to accept Portland. He had
hoped a good faith offer would
work.
Once inside the hotel room of
the chairman of the expansion
committee and Baltimore Bul-
lets owner Abe Pollin, the mood
changed. A few members of the
committee, led by the owner of
the New York Knicks, did not
want Portland in the league.
So Glickman left the room
dejected.
When he reached the lobby of
the hotel, with the feeling that his
dream had failed, he remembered
he had left his raincoat back in the
room.
“When I got there,” Glick-
man said, “Pollin was on the
phone: ‘Harry it’s for you … some
guy named Sarkowsky is on the
phone.’ He had reached Wein-
berg, who was eager to buy into
an NBA franchise and fi nally got
in touch with Schmertz, who was
in. And Portland was granted an
NBA franchise.
“When we got this franchise,
we didn’t have any support, any
political groups … we had very
little from the media,” Glick-
man said at a press conference
on Feb. 6. “I hope that changes
now, because of the very day we
got this franchise, we held a press
conference the very next day say-
ing, ‘we hope we (as in Oregon)
have another major league team.’
And my biggest disappointment
is, we haven’t had another one to
join us. I hope we don’t have to
wait another 48 years to get one.”
Now 50 years later, it’s time
to celebrate 50 years and the 50th
anniversary of the beloved fran-
chise. And plans are underway to
do so.
The Blazers announced Feb.
6 that a preseason game will be
played Oct. 7 against the Den-
ver Nuggets inside their original
home, Veterans Memorial Col-
iseum, next door to their cur-
rent home, the Moda Center,
to honor the historic venue that
served as the home of the Trail
See 50th, Page B2
STATE SWIMMING
Barnard leaves a lasting impression with Bucks
Senior holds 3
school records,
qualifi es for state
in 4 events
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
On whiteboard in his
room, Ryan Barnard has a
list of swim times he would
like to achieve.
After his performances
last weekend at the Inter-
mountain Conference Dis-
trict Swimming Champi-
onships at the Hood River
Aquatic Center, the Pendle-
ton senior needs to rework
his chart.
The 6-foot-2 Barnard
qualifi ed for four events at
the 5A state swim meet Fri-
day and Saturday at Tualatin
Hills Aquatic Center. Pre-
lims begin at 1:45 p.m. Fri-
day. Finals 1 p.m. Saturday.
Barnard will compete in
the 200 individual medley,
the 100 breaststroke, 200
medley relay and the 200
free relay.
“He has made it to the
fi nal round before,” Pend-
leton coach Tony Nelson
said. “We are happy for top
six at state. You have to be
extremely gifted to win
state.”
The 200 medley relay
is up fi rst, where Barnard
will swim the breaststroke
(second leg). Finishing out
the relay team are Matthew
Miltenberger (backstroke),
Cahill Robinson (butter-
fl y) and Tyler Spratling
(freestyle).
The Bucks won the dis-
trict title in a time of 1 min-
ute, 49.62 seconds.
Barnard will have a
quick turnaround (about 15
minutes) before competing
in the 200 IM, an event he
won at district in a school
record time of 2:04.32. Jon
Jennings (2017, 2:06.90) pre-
viously held the record.
The 200 IM is where
Barnard shines.
He is seeded third behind
Jonathan Yordy of Lebanon
and Nic Ashland of Corval-
lis. He beat both of them last
year at state.
“I’d love to be in the top
three in both (individual
races), and I’d love to win
the 200 IM,” said Barnard,
who was sixth at state last
year in the event.
He will get about an hour
break before hitting the
pool for the 200 free relay
along with freshmen Robin-
son, Andrew Williams and
Kaleo Theis. Barnard will
swim the anchor leg.
A 30-minute break will
have Barnard back on the
See Swimming, Page B2
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Ryan Barnard swims the backstroke at a recent practice at the Roundup Athletic Club. The
Pendleton High School swimmer will compete at 5A state swim meet this weekend in the 200
individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 200 free relay and 200 medley relay.
SPORTS SHORTS
Trail Blazers sign center Enes Kanter
PORTLAND (AP) — Center Enes
Kanter has joined the Portland Trail
Blazers.
Kanter was waived by the New
York Knicks along with Wesley Mat-
thews following the trade deadline
last week.
Kanter announced Wednesday on
Twitter that he had signed with the
AP Photo/Mary Altaff er, File
Blazers for the rest of the season.
Kanter was once a starter for the
Knicks but fell out of the rotation
altogether when the team — which
holds the worst record in the league
— turned its focus to younger
players.
The Knicks could not fi nd a deal
for Kanter before the deadline.
The center from Turkey came to
the Knicks from Oklahoma City in the
Carmelo Anthony trade in Septem-
ber 2017 and averaged 14 points and
10.8 rebounds in 115 games over two
seasons.
He had become frustrated after
fi rst losing his starting spot and then
any spot at all in recent weeks.