by: Wayne Thompson

That's when this little-used veteran streak shooter with tricky one-on-one moves rescued the Blazers from almost certain defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

In a career that spanned only eight NBA seasons, Herm Gilliam was the least-likely player in Coach Jack Ramsay's structured system to become the hero in Portland's surprising run to its only world title.

Buried on the Portland bench in Ramsay's pass-first, dribble-last and move-without-the-ball offensive system, Gilliam delivered what no other Blazer on that championship team could -- instant offense.

Nothing was working for the Blazers that Sunday afternoon at the Great Western Forum -- the fastbreak fizzled out and the sharp passing that usually characterized Blazer basketball in the halfcourt offense was missing.

Down by 11 points in the third quarter and unable to combat the inspired inside play of LA's Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Ramsay turned to Gilliam.

And Gilliam turned the game around in the fourth quarter by taking the Laker guards to school with a variety of arching jump shots, shake-and-bake spin moves and dipsy-doodle floaters he picked up over the years from watching his idols -- Earl (The Pearl) Monroe and Pistol Pete Maravich.

He scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter to ignite Portland's comeback.

It quite simply was Herm Gilliam’s defining moment as a player.

Televised by CBS to a national audience, the game showcased Gilliam as a one-man wrecking crew -- an unlikely hero, but the one weapon the Blazers had that the Lakers couldn't match.

Two years ago this month, many Blazer fans and former teammates relived that game after learning that Gilliam, at age 58, had died suddenly of a heart attack at his Salem home.

"He not only won that game for us," recalled teammate Maurice Lucas, "I'm not sure we would have won the title without him doing that. Winning that game and then sweeping the Lakers in four straight gave us so much confidence for the championship series against the 76ers. Had we lost in Los Angeles, things might have been different."

Portland's star of that season, Bill Walton, was ecstatic about Gilliam's performance:

“We were down and out in the second half,” Walton remembers. In an interview with Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune, Walton recalled, “Kareem was torturing me, and we were about to go down to defeat. Ninety seconds later, Herm had restored complete order in the universe. Everything he touched turned to gold -- jumpers, drives, rebounds, steals, deflections … the Lakers couldn’t even get the ball up court. It was an incredible performance,” Walton recalled.

Blazer guard Lionel Hollins and Gilliam, as a tandem, made the Laker guards, Earl Tatum and Don Chaney, look frozen in time. Hollins had eight steals and Gilliam, in just 28 minutes, had four thefts. The 25 Laker turnovers, according to Los Angeles Coach Jerry West, proved LA's downfall.

Nevertheless, it looked dismal, indeed, for the Blazers late in the third quarter as Jabbar and Cazzie Russell led a Laker charge that had overcome a 54-51 Portland halftime lead

Los Angeles outscored the Blazers 26-12, in the first 11 minutes of the second half, building a 77-66 lead.

Except for Hollins, who had 31 points, the Blazers couldn't score and Hollins was being double teamed and needed help.

That's when Ramsay realized that his usually reliable motion offense was being smothered, and that the vaunted Blazer passing game was stagnant. What it needed -- ("God forbid," Ramsay would think) -- was some one-on-one magic, someone to take matters into his own gifted hands.

Translation: Send Herm "The Trickster" Gilliam into the game.

In the next 21 seconds, Gilliam delivered. He connected on two jumpers to cut the Laker lead to 77-70 as the third quarter ended.

In the final quarter -- for about 10 minutes -- Gilliam became the best offensive player in Blazer history. He scored 10 field goals in 13 tries in the second half, scoring from all angles when the Blazers needed a score.

"It is one thing to be hot," said Walton afterwards. "but it is another to be hot and want the ball the way Herm did. He definitely wanted it."

Gilliam acknowledged that in an interview with then-Blazer beat writer Bob Robinson: "I told Bill (Walton) and Lloyd (Neal) at halftime that I needed the ball more," Herm said. "The Lakers were clogging the middle and we needed to get them out of that.

"Some people say we don't have good outside shooters," Gilliam added, "We have them. We just don't look for that many outside shots. I think I can score on anybody one-on-one, but I realize that too much emphasis on that kind of game can get you in trouble It can interfere with the team game."

The last 5:51 of the game proved a remarkable exhibition for Gilliam, the shooter. He not only single-handedly shot the Lakers out of their defensive game plan, he destroyed them with a variety of individual moves and unorthodox shots. His teammates weren't surprised, though, because they had seen a lot of that at Blazer practices.

Pete Maravich had been Gilliam's backcourt teammate in Atlanta and Pistol's influence on shot selection was apparent in Gilliam's game.

Growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in a segregated neighborhood where the playground kids idolized Winston-Salem Teachers College All-America Earl Monroe, Gilliam dazzled the Lakers as if he was back on the playground that afternoon.

A shot under the basket by Tom Abernethy gave the Lakers a 91-84 lead with 5:51 left and Gilliam, during a time out, called for the ball. "Give it to him and get out of his way," Walton chirped.

Herman sank three straight jumpers, the last one a fadeaway from 20 feet, to pull the Blazers to within one point at 91-90.

It was a dogfight the rest of the way, but Gilliam wasn't done. He stole the ball from the Lakers, feeding Hollins for a jumper, then with just 1:03 remaining, Gilliam sank a driving jumper from the key to give the Blazers a 98-97 lead -- Portland's first lead since early in the third period.

The next 40 seconds were frenzied. LA's Earl Tatum missed an outside jumper. Gilliam then finally missed one -- a shot he had to take to beat the 24-second clock. But the ball bounced off the back rim and Larry Steele and Maurice Lucas retrieved it. They got the ball to Hollins, who was fouled with 11 seconds left. Lionel missed the first free throw, but swished the second to give the Blazers a 99-97 lead.

It wasn't over, though. The Lakers had one more shot -- this one a 15-foot sky hook from Jabbar from the baseline, but Walton and Hollins had combined to harass Jabbar and the shot clanked harmlessly off the rim as the game ended.

Jabbar wound up with 40 points and 17 rebounds. He missed only six of 23 floor shots, including the final one.

Meanwhile, Gilliam was a brillliant 12 of 18 from the floor. After the game, Gilliam reflected: “I can do that, get my shots anytime. But the coach’s philosophy is more on the team game. That’s the way we play. Today, I thought a little one-on-one play was needed, and I provided it.” Ramsay chuckled when reminded of Gilliam’s comment. “He’s right,” Ramsay told Eggers. “He was a little more one-on-one than I desired. But when I think of Herm, I always think of that Laker game. We were taking on water and not going anywhere, and he bailed us out.” Gilliam took his game-saving performance in stride, as if no big deal. "I've played better games," he told writer Robinson afterwards. "But considering that this is the playoffs and that the team needed me, this has to be my biggest game," he added.

Two days later, Gilliam gave Blazer fans an encore at Memorial Coliseum; he scored 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting as the Blazers beat the Lakers again, 102-97. They closed the Lakers out, 105-101, on May 13, advancing to the NBA championship series.

Yet the outcome of the Laker series was really determined on Herm Gilliam Day -- May 8, 1977. The Blazers were delayed in their flight back to Portland that night, but much to their surprise a spontaneous crowd of more than 2,000 people lined the corridors of Portland International Airport at 2 a.m. to greet their heroes, many shouting, "We want Herman!"

Gilliam was the last player to leave the plane because he waited for his wife, Betty and their three-year-old son, Jai. The fans exploded when Gilliam came into view, carrying Jai in his arms.

Herm Gilliam was deeply touched by the fans' response and he talked about it often in years to come.

"I think this is such a wonderful thing," he said at the time, "The fans in Portland feel they are a part of what we are doing. They feel they are a part of the team. That makes us feel like we're part of them."

The sweep of the Lakers in May of 1977 remains one of the highlights of Trail Blazer history. But even that remarkable effort -- blanking the team with the best record in the NBA -- is just a backdrop for the image that Blazer players on that team hold dear:

Watching Herm Gilliam, as the Western gun-slinger in true Clint Eastwood-fashion, making their day.