There's a running joke between Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan and the Portland media that covers the team. Someone will ask McMillan if a particular upcoming contest is "a big game." McMillan replies, as he always does, that "every game is a big game." In response, the reporter will give any number of reasons why said game feels bigger, say a game against a division rival, to which McMillan responds that he doesn't understand or agree with that line of reasoning. Despite whatever the perceived magnitude might be, a win or loss in a "big game" counts the same as in a "little game."
It's a good thing that the NBA agrees with McMillan, because if for some reason bad losses did count more than once, Portland's overtime loss to Utah on February 21, 2010 would have been worth at least double in the Trail Blazers' loss column.
The Trail Blazers looked like their were on their way to one of their best victories of the season, at least for the first 29 minutes of the game. Portland had built a 25-point lead with just over seven minutes to play in the third quarter against a Jazz team that had won 17 of their last 20. Portland had lost all three of the previous games of the season to the Jazz by an average of 14.3 points. This was a chance to get one back, beat the hottest team in the league and avoid a season series sweep.
