24 hours before this experience we were frustrated, frayed and fretting over whether or not we would be able to get tickets to see the LA Lakers take on the Portland Trail Blazers in Rip City. As we were in Seattle ar the time, we couldn't buy tickets online through a number of major websites because Washington State has some ridiculous laws around international credit cards making online purchases (I think... dont quote me on that). We had to use a sneaky back door approach and get into a scalping App to assure ourselves of seats for the big game. Fortunately, we got tickets. We jumped on the 3.5hr bus ride down the highway the following day to get to Portland in time for tip off.

We arrived at the Moda Center with minutes to spare before the game started. Once through security checks (you start getting used to being patted down for guns etc.), our tickets wouldn't scan in and we both had this sinking feeling we had bought fake tickets or had been scammed in some way. The security guy told us to go to the ticket counter to get a reprint, and fortunately, after running madly through crowds to and from, we were able to get our original tickets reprinted. These ones worked and we made it to our seats with time to watch the remainder of the warm up and get the feel for the arena - it was buzzing! We were too!

As soon as the match started I was impressed with the speed and quality of the game. It puts the NBL to shame! The fluency with which they dunk, sink fading 3 pointers and work seamlessly as a team to set up plays was utterly awesome to watch. It's incredible to think the quality of competition over here with 30 teams playing hundreds of games like this every year.

Game-wise the Blazers lead the first two quarters by a couple of points. The Lakers took control early in the third quarter through Hill and Davis, and it was only in the last minutes of the game that Portland hit the lead again. The roof nearly lifted off the Moda Center the moment Aldridge sunk the basket to take the score to 86-85 in Portland's favour. The home team ended up taking a narrow victory thanks to a 39 point haul from Damian Lillard (take a bow Sir!).

As it was with the Canucks, we were impressed with the value added to the game through entertainment in the breaks and the atmosphere in the arena. We have to thank Morgan and Kerrid for sponsoring the experience. It was everything we dreamed it would be. Truly epic! If we're really lucky, we'll be able to catch them again at the Staples Center when we're down in LA later this month. Who knows?