On this day in 1970: Trail Blazers win their first NBA game, 115-112 over Cleveland

Fifty-six years ago today, the Portland Trail Blazers played their first NBA game and won it. On October 16, 1970, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, the expansion club edged the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-112 in front of 4,273 fans. Jim Barnett scored 31 points, Princeton rookie Geoff Petrie added 21 in his NBA debut, and Portland closed with a 34-26 fourth quarter to finish the night 1-0.

Both teams were brand-new. The 1970 expansion class also included the Buffalo Braves, so a Cavaliers-Blazers opener was two expansion clubs meeting on the first Friday of the season. Cleveland arrived at 0-2. Portland had never played a regular-season game. According to Basketball-Reference’s box score and the NBA.com game summary, the visitors led after the first quarter and again after three, but the Blazers’ free-throw edge and finishing kick flipped the result.

• Result: Trail Blazers 115, Cavaliers 112 — October 16, 1970, Memorial Coliseum, Portland.
• By quarter: Cavaliers 28-27-31-26; Trail Blazers 25-29-27-34.
• Attendance: 4,273.
• Portland leaders: Jim Barnett 31 points (10-18 FG, 11-13 FT), Geoff Petrie 21, Stan McKenzie 19, Leroy Ellis 15 points and 22 rebounds, Ed Manning 15 points and 10 rebounds.
• Cleveland leaders: John Warren 23, Len Chappell 19, Johnny Egan 16, Bingo Smith 14, McCoy McLemore 14 points and 16 rebounds, Walt Wesley 12.
• Team shooting: Portland 42-101 from the field and 31-43 from the line; Cleveland 48-103 and 16-27.

Barnett’s 31 and a local Oregon thread

Barnett was the night’s clearest veteran spark. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Oregon, drafted eighth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1966, poured in 31 on 10-of-18 shooting and 11-of-13 free throws in 37 minutes. He outscored every Cavalier and every teammate. Stan McKenzie’s perfect night from the line (7-of-7) and 19 points off the bench, plus Ed Manning’s double-double, kept the supporting cast level while Portland trailed for stretches of the third quarter.

Leroy Ellis, a long-armed frontcourt veteran, controlled the glass with 22 rebounds in 40 minutes and added 15 points. Rick Adelman, later a longtime NBA head coach, started and played 23 minutes in the franchise’s first box score. Coach Rolland Todd’s group did not shoot better than Cleveland from the field, but the free-throw disparity — 31 makes to 16 — was decisive in a three-point game.

Petrie’s debut and a co-Rookie of the Year season

Petrie was Portland’s first first-round pick, taken eighth overall in 1970 out of Princeton. On opening night he played 41 minutes, scored 21 on 9-of-24 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists, and began a rookie year that ended with co-Rookie of the Year honors shared with Boston’s Dave Cowens. He averaged 24.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists over 82 games, made the All-Rookie team and earned an All-Star nod in that same first season.

The Blazers finished 1970-71 at 29-53, fifth in the Pacific Division under Todd. That win total was the best among the three expansion clubs: Buffalo went 22-60 and Cleveland 15-67. Portland scored 115.5 points per game, fourth in a 17-team league, but allowed 120.0, last in the league. The first night already looked like that identity — fast, imperfect, and able to steal a close home game when the free throws fell.

Why the first win still matters

Franchise firsts stack up on a single box score. First tip. First win. First 20-point line from the franchise’s first first-round pick. First double-double from Ellis. First 30-point night, from Barnett. Memorial Coliseum would host much louder nights later, including the 1977 title run, but the building’s first official NBA memory is a three-point escape against another expansion club that had already lost twice.

Fifty-six years later the numbers are still clean: Portland 115, Cleveland 112, Barnett 31, Petrie 21, Ellis 22 boards, and a 34-point fourth that turned a debut into a win. For a franchise that started from scratch in 1970, that is the first line in the ledger.