In 1991, it appeared that the sun was slowly setting on the Los Angeles Lakers’ dynasty.
Under new head coach Mike Dunleavy that season, they did well to win 58 games, but they were older and not quite as dominant as they had been a few years earlier.
Critics and fans complained that Dunleavy had effectively turned Showtime into “slowtime” as L.A. became mostly a deliberate halfcourt team.
Even worse, the Lakers were no longer the top dogs in the Western Conference, as the Portland Trail Blazers had emerged as a rougher, more rugged version of what L.A. had been in the 1980s.
The Blazers won 63 games in 1991, and when they met the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, many expected them to put the Lakers away.
Instead, Magic Johnson had 21 assists and led L.A. to a surprising 111-106 win in Game 1 in Portland.
The Blazers built a double-digit lead in the third quarter, but the Lakers proved to be smarter and more resourceful in the end.
This win set the tone for the series, as the Lakers’ greater guile allowed them to take the matchup in six games and advance to the NBA Finals for the ninth time in the past dozen years.
