Counting down the 25 best Trail Blazers performances of the last 25 years.
Over the final six weeks until the start of training camp, we will be counting down the 25 best individual performances by Trail Blazers players in the last 25 years.
Sean Highkin
Other entries: 25-23 | 22-21 | 20-19 | 18-17 | 16-15 | 14-13 | 12-11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1
The player: Zach Randolph
The game: April 27, 2003 vs. Dallas Mavericks (Game 4, first round)
The stats: 25 points, 9-of-17 shooting (52.9%), 7-of-10 free throws, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block in 41 minutes
Most of the 2000s for the Trail Blazers have been memory-holed. Between the 2000 Western Conference Finals run and the emergence of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge towards the end of that decade and their return to the playoffs in 2009, not much is talked about in any kind of positive light.
But they did make the playoffs the next three years after the Lakers series and, although they lost in the first round all three years, in 2003 they came back from down 3-0 to the Mavericks to force a Game 7.
A second-year forward named Zach Randolph helped kick off that comeback and not only avoid a sweep but put the Blazers on the verge of doing something that still has not been done in the NBA.
