1992–93 Portland Trail Blazers season

Off-season

During the off-season, the team signed free agents Rod Strickland,^[2][3][4] and Mario Elie.^[5][6][7]

Regular season

With the addition of Strickland and Elie, the Trail Blazers got off to a fast start by winning their first eight games of the regular season. The team posted a six-game winning streak in January, which led to a 28–11 start to the season, and later on held a 31–16 record at the All-Star break.^[8] However, Clyde Drexler only played just 49 games due to knee and hamstring injuries.^[9][10][11] The Trail Blazers finished in third place in the Pacific Division with a 51–31 record, and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference;^[12] the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the eleventh consecutive year.^[1]

Drexler averaged 19.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while Clifford Robinson averaged 19.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game off the bench, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year,^[13][14][15] and Terry Porter provided the team with 18.2 points and 5.2 assists per game, and also led them with 143 three-point field goals. In addition, Strickland provided with 13.7 points, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while Jerome Kersey contributed 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, Kevin Duckworth provided with 9.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and Buck Williams averaged 8.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Elie contributed 8.6 points per game, and Mark Bryant provided with 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.^[16]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Drexler and Porter were both selected for the 1993 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Porter's second and final All-Star appearance.^[17][18][19] In addition, Porter also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the second time.^[20][21] Drexler also finished tied in tenth place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[22][23] while Robinson finished in fifth place in Most Improved Player voting.^[23]

The Trail Blazers finished 25th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 528,408 at the Memorial Coliseum during the regular season, which was the third-lowest in the league.^[16][24]

NBA playoffs

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1993 NBA playoffs, the Trail Blazers faced off against the 5th–seeded San Antonio Spurs, who were led by the trio of All-Star center David Robinson, All-Star forward Sean Elliott, and Dale Ellis. However, the Trail Blazers were unable to follow the previous season's playoff run to the NBA Finals; with the series tied at 1–1, the team lost the next two games to the Spurs on the road, which included a Game 4 loss at the HemisFair Arena in overtime, 100–97, thus losing the series in four games.^[25][26][27]

Notable incidents

This season was not without controversy, as in February 1993, four members of the team: Kersey and Trail Blazer rookies, Tracy Murray, Dave Johnson and Reggie Smith, were all accused of sexual misconduct by two 16-year old teenage girls from Salt Lake City, who claimed they had sex with the players on January 23. The Trail Blazers were on the road to play against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center at the time. Murray and Johnson were both fined $20,000 and suspended for three games, while Kersey and Smith were both fined $15,000.^[28][29][30]

Aftermath

Following the season, Duckworth was traded to the Washington Bullets after his production had decreased in the previous two seasons,^[31][32][33] and Elie was traded to the Houston Rockets.^[34][35][36]

Season standings

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics citation:^[16]