Welcome to the home of your former torments, Coach Stotts! You’re with the good guys now.
When the Golden State Warriors added former Portland Trail Blazers head coach to their coaching staff this offseason, I was pleasantly surprised. Stotts is a well known commodity in the NBA, primarily for his time with Portland where he took them to perennial playoff berths and even a Western Conference Finals.
But it’s his time in opposition to the Dubs that makes his hiring very fascinating. We’ve seen a long history of rivals-turned-teammates during the history of the Golden Empire, with names like Andre Iguodala, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant topping the list.
But a coach? That feels new. Per Stat Muse, Stotts had a record of 11-21 against the Dubs during the regular season as the Blazers chief. Considering he had to deal with Prime Splash Bros and the hellacious power of the Hamptons 5, that’s not bad.
It was much worse for him in the playoffs, as his Blazers were absolutely destroyed by the Golden Empire in the playoffs, to the tune of a record of 1-12. Egads! Talk about being dominated.
He even lost a playoff game to the Dubs when Stephen Curry, greatest player alive, missed the game with an MCL injury. Remember Game 1 in 2016 in the olde rocking Oracle Arena in Oakland, where without Curry his fellow Splash Bro Klay Thompson drilled Portland for 37 points in a W?
Coach Stotts later watched Stephen Curry come back in Game 4 from that KNEE INJURY to set the record for most points in a playoff overtime session. How did Curry go from barely able to walk to destroying Portland IN Portland?
Lmao. Thats tough.
But Stotts had a chance for revenge in the 2019 Western Conference Finals against Golden State. Unfortunately for the Trail Blazers, Stotts had to watch his team set an NBA record for most double-digit blown half-time leads in a playoff series. Folks, it was the first time in NBA history that a team had lost three straight playoff games after leading by 15 or more points at halftime bahahahaah.
Here are the details from the series:
- Game 2: The Blazers led by 15 points at halftime (65-50), but the Warriors came back to win 114-111.
- Game 3: The Blazers had an 18-point lead in the first half and led by 13 at halftime (66-53). They ultimately lost 110-99.
- Game 4: The Blazers were up by 17 points in the second quarter and led by 8 at halftime (69-65), but the Warriors again rallied to win 119-117 in overtime, completing a sweep.
- BAHAHAHAAHAAHAH here’s Coach Stotts for his thoughts:
Here’s hoping things are better for Stotts walking into Warriors games now as opposed to when he was up there in Oregon.