PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Trail Blazers may be reaching their peak at just the right time, doing everything right Thursday night to reach the Western Conference finals with a 118-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
'We set the tempo, we set the initiative,' Portland coach Rick Adelman said after his team hit 54 percent of its shots and dominated nearly every other category to wrap up the best-of-seven series in five games. 'We weren't going to be denied.'
The Trail Blazers will play the Utah Jazz in the conference final beginning Saturday for the right to play for the NBA crown against the winner of the Eastern Conference. The Jazz advanced Thursday night by eliminating the Seattle SuperSonics in five games.
'They made the big plays and we didn't,' Phoenix guard Jeff Hornacek said. 'They do such a great job with the fastbreak. They run it like the Lakers used to. It's awesome.'
Leading the way for the Trail Blazers was Clyde Drexler, who was playing his first game since being added to the U.S. Olympic basketball team. In addition to his game-high 34 points, Drexler also had eight rebounds and eight assists. But he had plenty of help from the supporting cast as five other players scored in double figures.
Terry Porter added 20 points for the winners while Tom Chambers and Tim Perry each 19 to lead Phoenix.
It appeared this game would go down to the wire, like the first four games in the series, before the Trail Blazers pulled away down the stretch. Portland outscored Phoenix 19-6 during the middle of the final period.
'They're such an explosive team' Phoenix Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said of the Trail Blazers. 'I've said all along, over and over, that they are the best in the west. The way they are playing, they could be the team to beat for the whole thing.'
Yet it wasn't easy against the Suns. Coming into Thursday's game, the Trail Blazers had scored only four more points than the Suns in the series.
With the series in their grasp, though, the Trail Blazers changed their tempo. They led 71-58 at halftime, with Drexler and Terry Porter responsible for most of that late first-half surge. Drexler had 18 points in the half and Porter added 17, and between them, they only missed six of 22 shots.
The difference for Phoenix in the first half may have been Kevin Johnson, who missed his only field goal attempt in 14 minutes. He uncharacteristicly passed up several open shots he normally would take -- and make.
Instead, Johnson was involving his teammates more, especially Perry, who had 12 first-half points.
Johnson scored his first points of the game at 9:44 of the third quarter when he hit a running one-hander from the key and canned a free throw after being fouled -- but the Suns trailed 75-62. Johnson wound up with 12 points but hit only four of 13 shots.
Even without Johnson's usual hot hand, the Suns still closed the gap to 89-85 in the third period and 97-94 in the final quarter -- but that three-point deficit was as close as they got.
Drexler had eight points in the final quarter to help seal the outcome.
'Phoenix was coming after us in the second half and that's when I decided to go with the small lineup,' Adelman said. 'We held them off and that was the end for them.'
'We needed to play good defense tonight and that's what we did,' said Portland's Jerome Kersey, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. 'We did all the things that win games.'
The game marks Fitzsimmons' last as coach of the Suns. He announced his retirement at the end of the regular season and finishes with 805 career victories.
'Frankly, I haven't had time to think about that,' he said. 'All I was trying to do was get a win here somehow and take the series back to Phoenix. But give Portland credit. They were determined not to let that happen.'
