Blazers Blazing Scoring Trail: Portland takes a 3-1 lead into its home game against Phoenix tonght.
The two teams played the highest-scoring playoff game in NBA history on Monday night, with the Trail Blazers winning 153-151 in double overtime.
"They're in the grave, but there's no dirt on them yet," Danny Ainge said of the Suns.
"We're a team that, with our backs against the wall, we really play up to par," Suns forward Dan Majerle said.
The Blazers, 7-0 in playoffs after taking a 2-1 lead, have a 3-1 margin going back to Portland, where they are 37-8 this season.
Portland's 153 points matched the thirdhighest total ever in a playoff game, four short of the 157 scored by the Celtics against New York two years ago.
A Medal for the Glide?: A gold medal around his neck would mean more the Clyde Drexler than even an NBA title. Not that the latest member of the U.S. Olympic team is looking past the playoffs.
"There would be nothing better than to win an NBA championship and then go to Barcelona and win the gold medal," said Drexler, the star guard of the Portland Trail Blazers who, along with Duke's Christian Laettner--the only college player--was added to the U.S. Olympic team on yesterday.
Drexler, who passed on that chance in 1984 by leaving Houston as a junior to turn pro in '83, and Laettner were the final two players selected for the first U.S. Olympic squad to feature NBA players. Laettner, who led Duke to the last two national titles, has verbally committed to playing at Barcelona. Drexler, whose Trail Blazers stand one victory from the Western Conference finals, accepted his invitation Monday.
"I was told right before the game yesterday and I was pretty happy," said the 6-foot-6 guard who averaged 25 points and 6.7 assists a game this season.
The 10 NBA players named last year are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin and David Robinson.
Fitch Bids Goodbye to Nets: Bill Fitch resigned as coach of the New Jersey Nets today, less than two weeks after leading the squabbling club to its first playoff berth since 1986.
"It was my decision," Fitch said in a statement read by Nets spokesman John Mertz during a telephone conference call.
Fitch, who will remain with the club as a consultant, had a year left on his contract, but his decision to step down as coach came as no surprise. His status has been in question since December, when there were reports that former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano would replace him.
Fitch later had public run-ins on the bench with Derrick Coleman, Chris Morris and Drazen Petrovic in the closing weeks of the season and during the playoffs.
In each case, the player declined to go into the game when ordered to by Fitch.
The Nets owners met after the team was eliminated by Cleveland in the opening round of the playoffs and reportedly decided the coaching change was necessary.