Detroit Free Press

This time, there was no magic. No Isiah either. This time the Portland Trail Blazers proved that what counts is not how you start but how you finish, and this is how they finished: on top.

This time, there was no magic. No Isiah either. This time it was the Portland Trail Blazers who proved that what ...

NEW YORK -- This place had always treated him like garbage, and there he was in the gutter again. A zero. A big fat zero. Thirteen stinking minutes into the U.S. Open final, in front of millions of people, and he hadn't even won a game from John McEnroe -- not a single game, and only one lousy point -- while McEnroe had cruised to three straight wins without breaking a sweat. People already were whispering "slaughter."He could feel it. The collar. Tightening."There he goes," said a reporter in the press box, "the choking dog."

They come at Bill Laimbeer like kids in a zoo. Look at the beast. You think he bites? This is Laimbeer's life now, every day, in a restaurant, on the street, you can't hide when you're 6-feet-11. Even at home, he's sitting on his porch by the lake, and people approach in their boats and they kill the engine and float past, staring, whispering, "That's him, there. Look."

They come at Bill Laimbeer like kids in a zoo. Look at the beast. You think he bites? This is Laimbeer's life now, ...

Late in the game, with the score tied, the crowd on its feet, Chuck Daly leaned toward his captain and snapped an ammonia capsule under his nose. Isiah Thomas jerked his head as if someone had slapped him right across the cheek. The message was clear: Wake up.Message received.

Usually at this time of year, I engage in a lively debate with fellow columnist Mike Downey, who is a wonderful guy in every way except that he lives and works in Los Angeles, which makes him a ninny.

In the end, that wasn't just a basketball, that was a message slamming through those Palace nets: John Salley ...