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By Jason Quick | jquick@oregonian.com
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on May 14, 2014 at 10:46 PM, updated May 14, 2014 at 11:19 PM
SAN ANTONIO — The game was out of reach, and soon the season would be over, but with about eight minutes left in Wednesday's Game 5 there was one more memory for the Trail Blazers to create.
They had emerged out of a timeout and started out toward the court when they realized the game was still a ways from resuming. So they took a seat along the scorers table near halfcourt.
Nicolas Batum. Robin Lopez. Damian Lillard. LaMarcus Aldridge. And Wesley Matthews.
It would be their final act together, their final stand of the season.
It was such a poignant moment, I felt compelled to take a photo as I sat behind them.
After the game, I showed the photo to each player. Their response reveals more than anything that came out of Wednesday's 104-82 loss in Game 5 that sent the Spurs to the Western Conference finals for the third straight season.
"I was hoping someone got that; I love that picture,'' Lopez said, still staring at the photo. "The important thing is, we were down 18 or 20 and we were still there, together. Instead of splintering, instead of bickering, we were still there together and we were going to go out with pride.''
He said that was the message being passed down the line from Lillard and Aldridge, that even in the bleakest hour, this team would stay together.
"Damian was saying 'Stick with it! Stick with it!' '' Lopez said. "And that was our team the whole season. Even when things weren't going well, it wasn't because we were apart or weren't a team. We played with a chip on our shoulders and we always had each other's back.''
When Lillard looked at the photo, he immediately went back to the moment.
"That was, 'hey man, if we are going to go down, we are not going to just lay down,' '' Lillard said. " 'We are going to finish the right way ... we are going to finish it out like a true competitor.' ''
I told him there was something about the starting five there all together that moved me. It was a such a great season, such a fun season, and that starting five was the biggest reason because they played so well together.
Seeing all five of them drawn together in such a painful moment struck me as a perfect reflection of team.
"I think that's a great view of it,'' Lillard said. "Our team has really been together all season. There's never been a moment when we separated or fingers got pointed, and that doesn't happen often in the NBA.''
At the time, he said he realized it was a moment when the guys started lining up and taking a seat together.
"It was like, man, this is elimination. This is the end of it,'' Lillard said. "I looked at L.A. and he looked at me and said 'Great season. We have to grow from it, but we have to keep playing, not lay down.' And I thought we did a great job of that.''
When Matthews looked at the photo, he sat silent and let it sink in.
"A helluva picture,'' Matthews said finally. "It just shows that we are a team. We win together, we lose together. We have great games together, we have (crappy) games together, but we do it together and we stick together. That's what we did all year.''
He reflected on how the moment happened.
"It was like we all just gravitated over there,'' Matthews said. "There wasn't any coming back at that point, but we didn't splinter off, we sat together. That's us: We fought together, we went through training camp together and even in bad times, we sat together. And that's how we went out: together.''
After Aldridge left the postgame podium, he paused for a moment on his walk to the team bus to look at the photo. I asked him what that scene meant to him.
"That shows the growth we had,'' Aldridge said. "We came a long way and progressed together. Right there, I was telling Dame that we had to keep playing. We had to keep that culture we had established this year, because that's our identity: playing hard and playing together.''
Batum smiled when he saw the photo, but it was evident it was a painful sight for him.
"We win together, we lose together — I feel like we were saying that,'' Batum said. "We always kept fighting, always kept playing and always stuck together. That's why I love this team and that's why I'm sad right now. I don't want to stop playing. I've never had that much fun in my six years. Now, I won't see all those guys next week, won't see them for five or six months. I hate that because I love those guys.''
And then, Batum looked far off, and it was clear his mind was going back in time.
"One time, my coach said something in France,'' Batum said. "We had lost a playoff game. We were done. He said, this is not the end, it's the beginning of something special. And that's how I feel about this team.''
-- Jason Quick | @jwquick
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...lls_one_thing_about_the_trail_blazers_th.html
