1993–94 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1993–94 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 24th season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association.^[1] During the off-season, the Trail Blazers acquired Harvey Grant from the Washington Bullets,^[2][3][4] and signed free agent Chris Dudley.^[5][6][7] However, Dudley suffered an ankle injury in November, and only played just six games.^[8][9][10]

With the addition of Grant, the Trail Blazers got off to an 8–5 start to the regular season in November, posted a five-game winning streak in January, and later on held a 27–20 record at the All-Star break.^[11] The team posted a six-game winning streak in February, but later on lost five of their final seven games of the season. The Trail Blazers finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 47–35 record, and earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference;^[12] the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the twelfth consecutive year.^[1]

Last season's Sixth Man of the Year Clifford Robinson became the team's starting center, averaging 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, while Clyde Drexler averaged 19.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and Rod Strickland provided the team with 17.2 points, 9.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game. In addition, Terry Porter played half of the regular season off the bench as backup point guard behind Strickland, averaging 13.1 points and 5.2 assists per game, plus leading the Trail Blazers with 110 three-point field goals, while Grant contributed 10.4 points per game, and Buck Williams provided with 9.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Off the bench, second-year forward Tracy Murray contributed 6.6 points per game and shot .459 in three-point percentage, while Jerome Kersey provided with 6.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, and Mark Bryant averaged 5.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.^[13]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Robinson and Drexler were both selected for the 1994 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Robinson's first and only All-Star appearance.^[14][15][16] Meanwhile, rookie shooting guard, and first-round draft pick James Robinson participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[17][18] Strickland finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting.^[19][20]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1994 NBA playoffs, the Trail Blazers faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Houston Rockets, a team that featured All-Star center, Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, Hakeem Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe and Vernon Maxwell. The Trail Blazers lost the first two games to the Rockets on the road at The Summit, before winning Game 3 at home, 118–115 at the Memorial Coliseum.^[21] However, the Trail Blazers lost Game 4 to the Rockets at home, 92–89, thus losing the series in four games.^[22][23][24] The Rockets would go on to defeat the New York Knicks in a full seven-game series in the 1994 NBA Finals, winning their first ever NBA championship in franchise history.^[25][26][27]

The Trail Blazers finished 24th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 528,408 at the Memorial Coliseum during the regular season, which was the fourth-lowest in the league.^[13][28] Following the season, head coach Rick Adelman was fired after coaching the Trail Blazers for five in a half seasons.^[29][30][31] Game 4 of the Rockets-Blazers series would be the last NBA playoff game Drexler would play as a member of the Trail Blazers, the team that drafted him; this was also his final full season with the Trail Blazers, as he would be traded to the Rockets on February 14, 1995 (right before the next season's trade deadline), honoring his wish to be traded to a contender.^[32][33][34]