When the final buzzer sounded at Moda Center on opening night, it wasn’t just Blazer fans’ expectations that were demolished. Portland rewrote their own opening night record books, setting the largest margin of loss in team history. The previous record stood for an astounding 53 years; the Blazers lost to the Seattle SuperSonics by 33, 119-88, at the Memorial Coliseum on 1971’s opening night. That game featured a battle between two future Blazers head coaches: The Sonics’ Lenny Wilkens (a 23-point, 10-assist double-double) and the Blazers’ Rick Adelman (10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists).
The Blazers were previously 23-10 on opening night at home, and coming off a preseason blowout of the Utah Jazz, the crowd came into opening night hopeful but left deflated.