Blazers beat Hawks at the Sprint Center
By JUSTIN KENDALL
Click on Greg Oden’s beard to see a slideshow.
The up-and-coming Portland Trail Blazers, led by man-beast Greg Oden, faced a young Atlanta Hawks team Friday night in the Sprint Center’s first NBA game.
Before the game, the PA announcer issued an odd warning: In case of a tornado, stay away from glass windows. Uh, the entire building is made of glass. He should have said, “In the event of a tornado, you’re all fucked.”
The only thing close to a tornado was Blazer rookie spark-plug Jerryd Bayless. The guard from Arizona threw down a sick sky-walking dunk and filled the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
But it was a Shavlik Randolph kinda night. Who? The tall white guy wearing one knee-high black sock. The Blazer big man was a perfect nine-for-nine from the floor and finished with a double-double, 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The game brought out Kansas City’s biggest sports celebrity. Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, apparently wearing a Glad trash bag for a shirt, watched the game with a few teammates from $200 center-court seats.
