Blazers Knock Out Warriors In A Hurry

Most NBA games come down to the final 2 minutes. The Portland Trail Blazers’ 107-88 victory over the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night was a little different.

This one was over in the final 2 minutes of the first quarter.

Ten minutes were about all the winless Warriors needed to lose this one before 3,802 in the Arena.

Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo could write off his team’s sixth straight preseason loss to too many turnovers (20) and too many Blazers (a dozen of them scored).

It was a bitter shot for Carlesimo, coaching for the first time against the club that let him go after three seasons in Portland.

If the game was a dog - Portland led 61-32 at the half and 90-60 after three periods - there were moments of brilliance, starting with the youngest player on the floor.

Jermaine O’Neal is the real deal.

One of five Blazers in double figures, O’Neal - the NBA’s second-youngest player at 19 - had 14 points to go with eight rebounds.

He became a crowd favorite early, when the rout was set in motion.

With Blazers star Kenny Anderson sitting this one out, journeyman John Crotty took advantage of his quality minutes on the perimeter.

After Latrell Sprewell had pulled the Warriors to within two with five points on a jumper, a layup off a steal and a free throw, Crotty knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Blazers back up by five.

Rasheed Wallace drew a foul on a shot that went in and put Portland up 23-16. Wallace clanked the free throw but O’Neal, a 6-11 stringbean with knee-high white socks, skied for the rebound and put it back to extend Portland’s lead to nine.

Augmon ended the first quarter with a layin through pressure.

When O’Neal, who came out of Eau Claire (S.C.) High School to become the youngest player in NBA history a year ago, scored on a turnaround from the baseline 20 seconds into the second quarter, the rout was one.

Carlesimo was complimentary in defeat.

“Mike (Portland coach Dunleavy) has them playing very, very hard and very much together, he said. “They’re defending, getting the ball out, running and doing some good things.”

Wallace led the balanced Blazers with 17 points. Arvydas Sabonis, the 7-foot-3 Lithuanian center, had only six points, but with 10 defensive rebounds restricted Golden State to one shot per possession in the 20 minutes he saw action.

Both coaches were asked if O’Neal is on his way to stardom.

“Jermaine is an excellent player right now,” Carlesimo said, “and he’ll only get better.”

“Jermaine still makes a lot of mistakes out there,” Dunleavy said, “but that’s not unexpected. He’s a willing learner. I promised when I came in that I’d play him in every game, as long as he worked hard. How he produces will determine how much a part of the rotation he is.”

Read that to mean a big part as the long season unfolds.

“We did a lot of good things tonight but the main focus in our last couple of practices was to not to give up second-shot opportunities,” Dunleavy said. “Not give up the offensive glass. I thought we did a great job of that.”

Golden State managed only eight offensive rebounds, one in the first half, as Sabonis, Wallace, O’Neal and rookie Kelvin Cato took turns controlling the glass.

Another young Blazer, rookie guard Alvin Williams of Villanova, put up strong numbers with 3-for-4 shooting and alert defense.

“Very few rookies play defense better than he does,” Dunleavy said. “And he does a real nice job distributing the ball and running the team. We feel he’ll be a nice player.”

For a nice team?

“Maybe later on,” Dunleavy said. “Right now I’m concerned about our youth and how much we know about playing at this level.”

They knew enough to run a Pacific Division rival off the floor and run their exhibition record to 4-2..

“We dug ourselves a hole early,” Carlesimo said. “John Crotty played well early. We’re trying to get out of it when we were still making a pretty legitimate effort. Then we got shots blocked and couldn’t finish.”

The immediate concern may be the availability of forward Joe Smith, who strained his knee on a monster putback that banged in off the glass in the third quarter.

The big picture wasn’t much clearer after this one.

“A couple of individuals in the second half responded,” Carlesimo said. “Compared to how we played in the first half, it was encouraging. But too many of us - coaches included - were terrible. We have a lot of work to do. That’s the big setback because we were making progress.”

Sprewell scored 24 for the Warriors. Donyell Marshall added 19.

Golden State (88) - Price 1-7 4-4 6, Marshall 9-12 1-1 19, Thomas 1-2 2-3 5, Dampier 4-7 3-4 11, Smith 5-15 1-2 11, Ferrell 1-6 0-0 2, Fuller 2-3 2-2 6, Lang 0-0 0-0 0, Sprewell 10-17 3-4 24, Simpkins 0-2 2-2 2, Armstrong 0-6 0-0 0, Spencer 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 34-81 18-22 88.

Portland (107) - Wallace 7-13 2-5 17, Grant 4-8 6-9 14, Sabonis 3-5 0-0 6, Augmon 3-6 6-6 12, Crotty 3-5 2-2 10, Cato 3-5 0-0 6, Higgins 3-6 0-0 6, Lister 0-0 2-2 2, O’Neal 6-12 0-2 14, Rider 1-3 4-5 6, Bell 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 3-4 1-1 8, Wingfield 2-6 2-4 6. Totals 38-74 25-36 107.

Halftime-Portland 61, Golden State 32. 3-Point goals- Golden State 2-12 (Thomas 1-2, Sprewell 1-6, Marshall 0-1, Ferrell 0-1, Price 0-2), Portland 6-11 (Crotty 2-2, O’Neal 2-2, Williams 1-1, Wallace 1-3, Higgins 0-1, Rider 0-1, Wingfield 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Golden State 36 (Dampier 10), Portland 49 (Sabonis 11). Assists-Golden State 11 (Price, Armstrong 4), Portland 17 (Crotty 5). Total fouls-Golden State 25, Portland 25. A-3,802. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo