Namuwongo Blazers and City Oilers have taken the long way to the only game that matters now.

There is something fitting about the 2026 National Basketball League Finals ending where they have ended up: in Game 7.

For six games, City Oilers and Namuwongo Blazers have taken turns answering one another. Every time one side appeared to have found the formula, the other changed the question. Leads have disappeared, momentum has shifted, stars have taken turns carrying their teams, and games have repeatedly been decided in the smallest margins.

Now, after nearly three weeks of basketball, the championship has been reduced to 40 minutes in Hoima City.

But before the final chapter is written, there is a road worth remembering.

GAME 1 — BLAZERS DRAW FIRST BLOOD

Namuwongo Blazers 73–67 City Oilers

The series began with Namuwongo doing something few teams have managed against City Oilers in recent years: making the defending champions look uncomfortable from the opening tip.

Blazers won 73–67, taking the first game and, more importantly, establishing the tone for what would become an extraordinarily competitive series. This was not simply a case of Namuwongo winning Game 1. It was the first indication that this Finals series would not follow the usual script.

The Blazers had come through the playoffs unbeaten, sweeping their way through the quarterfinals and semifinals, and they carried that confidence into the Finals. City Oilers, meanwhile, were renewing a championship quest they had been denied by Namuwongo a year ago,  with the weight of history behind them.

The first blow belonged to Namuwongo.

But City Oilers have survived long enough in Ugandan basketball to know that one game is rarely the story.

GAME 2 — OILERS ANSWER

City Oilers level series 1–1

If Game 1 belonged to the Blazers, Game 2 was the Oilers reminding everyone why they had reached a twelfth consecutive Finals.

Namuwongo pushed City Oilers hard and mounted a late fightback that threatened to completely change the complexion of the game, but the Oilers survived.

The victory levelled the series at 1–1 and restored the balance. More importantly, it introduced one of the defining characteristics of these Finals: neither team was going to be allowed to dictate terms for very long.

The Oilers had their answer. The series was tied.

And then came Game 3.

GAME 3 — THEATRE IN OVERTIME

City Oilers 76–72 Namuwongo Blazers (OT)

Game 3 was where this stopped feeling like an ordinary Finals series.

It had everything. Patrick Rembert was at the centre of the Oilers’ attack, while Franck Nyembo produced one of the most memorable moments of the series when his circus three-pointer forced overtime.

At the end of regulation, neither side could separate itself. The game was tied 64–64, and the additional five minutes became another battle of nerve.

The Oilers eventually prevailed 76–72.

But the score barely tells the story.

This was the game that demonstrated just how little separated these teams. It was also a reminder that in a series this tight, a single possession, a single shot or a single defensive stop could become the difference between celebration and heartbreak.

City Oilers had now won two in succession.

For the first time, the 10 times champions had their noses in front.

GAME 4 — BLAZERS FIND ANOTHER ANSWER

Namuwongo Blazers 74–70 City Oilers

The response came quickly.

Namuwongo refused to allow the series to become an Oilers procession and found another answer in Game 4, winning 74–70 to level the Finals at 2–2.

The game reflected much of what had already become familiar in the series: physical defence, pressure, adjustments and a finish that remained uncertain until late.

Anthony Chukwubuka, James Okello, Franck Nyembo and Jimmy Enabu all contributed for the Blazers, while Patrick Rembert again led the Oilers with 19 points.

The important number, however, was not 19.

It was two.

Two wins apiece.

After four games, neither team had managed to win consecutive games. Every advantage had been answered. Every lead in the series had been temporary.

And that made Game 5 enormous.

GAME 5 — OILERS WIN ANOTHER GAME OF INCHES

City Oilers 78–73 Namuwongo Blazers

By Game 5, the Finals had become a game of inches.

City Oilers won 78–73 and moved within one victory of the championship, taking a 3–2 series lead.

Patrick Rembert produced one of his defining performances of the Finals, scoring 28 points and repeatedly putting pressure on the Blazers’ defence. Joel Lukoji added 14, while Titus Lual and Jonathan Komagum contributed 10 apiece.

The Oilers had done what champions are supposed to do: when the series reached its most consequential point, they found a way to win.

For Namuwongo, however, the situation was brutally simple.

Lose Game 6 and the season was over.

Both teams had spent the entire series refusing to give the other any breathing room.

Now it was Blazers turn to do it  – Only this time, elimination was staring them directly in the face.

GAME 6 — NAMUWONGO REFUSE TO DIE

Blazers force a deciding Game 7

And once again, Namuwongo found an answer.

With the series on the line, the Blazers refused to allow the Oilers to close it out. They took Game 6 and dragged the Finals all the way to the place nobody could have known for certain it would reach three weeks earlier.

Game 7.

It is perhaps the most fitting conclusion to a series in which neither team has been able to stay ahead for long.

City Oilers went 1–0 down.

Then 2–1 up.

Namuwongo levelled it.

Oilers moved to 3–2.

And with their season on the line, the Blazers levelled it again.

The series has been a pendulum.

Now there is nowhere left for it to swing.

GAME 7 — EVERYTHING THAT’S LEFT

City Oilers vs Namuwongo Blazers | Hoima City

There is no more tactical cushion now. No tomorrow to correct a mistake. No next game to recover from a poor shooting night, a missed rotation or a costly turnover.

One game.

One winner.

One champion.

For City Oilers, Game 7 is an opportunity to extend a remarkable era. They entered these Finals as ten-time champions and are now one game away from another title.

For Namuwongo, it is an opportunity to defend the title they took from the Oilers last season and also make the statement that they did not beat the king once – they became the new king.

But perhaps the most interesting part is that neither team has truly been able to solve the other.

The Oilers have Rembert, whose scoring has repeatedly kept them alive in tight games. The Blazers have repeatedly found answers through a collective that has refused to allow the series to settle into a predictable rhythm. Nyembo has already produced one of the defining shots of the Finals. Enabu has provided veteran poise. Lukoji, Lual, Okello, Chukwubuka and the supporting casts on both sides have ensured that this has never been a one-man series.

And then there is Hoima.

The Finals began with all the familiar surroundings of Kampala basketball. It now ends away from the capital, with the entire season travelling west for the final game.

That feels appropriate.

Because this series has already travelled far beyond the simple question of who wins the championship.

It has become a test of adjustment, resilience and nerve.

Six games have produced three different series leads, two ties, an overtime classic, late comebacks and countless possessions decided by fractions.

Now, finally, there is no more answer to find.

There is only Game 7.

The road ends in Hoima.

By Cucu Brian.

Namuwongo Blazers 82–64 City Oilers

There are many ways to win a basketball game, but there are very few ways to win a championship elimination game. Namuwongo Blazers found one on Wednesday night, and it was emphatic. With their season, and their championship hopes, hanging by a thread, the Blazers dismantled City Oilers 82–64 at MTN Arena to drag the 2026 NBL Finals all the way to the best two words in basketball: Game Seven.

For the first ten minutes, however, there was little indication that this would become the night Namuwongo seized control. Oilers opened with the first basket and, although the lead changed hands repeatedly, the game remained a possession-by-possession affair. Peter Obleng was already beginning to make his presence felt for the Blazers, while Jonathan Komagum provided Oilers with much of their early resistance. When the first quarter finally closed, Namuwongo had only a 14–12 advantage.

Then came the second quarter, and with it came the game.

The quarter that changed everything

Namuwongo did not simply win the second quarter. They took the game away.

The Blazers opened the period by extending their advantage, but Oilers briefly threatened to turn the contest back into the kind of close game that has defined this series. At one stage, City had reduced the deficit to just two points, 17–19, after Joel Kayiira’s turnaround jumper.

That was as close as Oilers would get.

Henry Ssebagala immediately answered with a basket, and then Landry Ndikumana briefly kept Oilers within striking distance with a three. But Obleng responded with another three, and suddenly the Blazers were creating separation.

The decisive sequence came after that. Ssebagala hit consecutive threes, while Kevin Nyemeck repeatedly attacked the paint. Drileba Tonny was finding cutters and bigs with precision, and Namuwongo’s offence began to look less like a team desperately trying to stay alive and more like a team that had discovered something Oilers could not solve. By the time Obleng buried another three with 1:54 remaining, the Blazers had opened a 16-point lead.

Oilers did find brief answers through Komagum and Rembert, but every attempted response was met by another Namuwongo possession. Nyemeck scored inside, Obleng continued to punish from outside, and Ssebagala added yet another three.

At halftime, the scoreboard read 45–29.

A 31–17 second quarter had transformed a two-point game into a 16-point problem.

And, importantly, it wasn’t one player doing all the damage.

Obleng, Ssebagala and the bench that changed the game

Peter Obleng finished with 22 points, shooting 8-for-15 from the field and an extraordinary 4-for-5 from three. Henry Ssebagala added 15, including three three-pointers, while Nyemeck contributed 13 and Nyembo Fataki finished with 18. That is four players producing in four different ways, and it was precisely the kind of collective performance Namuwongo needed with their backs against the wall.

But the most revealing number in the boxscore may be the 52 bench points.

City Oilers managed only 25.

That 27-point difference is difficult to overcome in any game, let alone a championship game. Namuwongo’s reserves weren’t merely filling minutes; they were driving the game. Obleng’s shooting, Ssebagala’s scoring and Nyemeck’s interior work gave Stephen Nyeko the luxury of continually putting fresh problems in front of Andrew Tendo’s Oilers. The depth advantage became a story in itself.

Tonny Drileba was another quiet architect of the victory. He scored no points, going 0-for-3 from the field, but finished with 11 rebounds and 11 assists. His fingerprints were all over the Blazers’ offensive rhythm. He assisted Nyemeck’s basket late in the second quarter, helped create Obleng’s scoring opportunities and repeatedly kept the ball moving.

This was not a night when Namuwongo needed every star to score. They needed everybody to contribute.

Oilers never found the comeback

The third quarter offered City Oilers one final opportunity to make the game uncomfortable.

They never got it.

Komagum continued to battle, Rembert found a few baskets and Baale knocked down a three early in the quarter, but Namuwongo’s lead remained stubbornly large.

Every time Oilers appeared to have a chance to build momentum, the Blazers answered. Nyembo scored inside. Ssebagala went to the line. Enabu found the basket. Nyemeck cleaned up second chances. And when Komagum tried to keep Oilers alive, Namuwongo simply kept scoring.

At 8:38 of the third, Nyemeck followed up his own offensive rebound to stretch the lead to 22 points, 51–29.

That was the moment Game Seven began to feel less like a possibility and more like an inevitability.

Oilers entered the fourth quarter down 64–48.And while the fourth quarter was technically competitive, it was never really in doubt.

Rembert had no Game 5 encore

Patrick Rembert had been spectacular in Game 5, carrying Oilers with a 28-point performance that had put them within one victory of another championship.

Game 6 was different.

Rembert finished with 14 points, but needed 16 shots to get there, going just 1-for-8 from three. He did manage a late burst as Oilers attempted to make the deficit respectable, including a driving basket and a three earlier in the second half, but Namuwongo never allowed him to find the rhythm that had defined Game 5.

The same was true of Joel Lukoji, who finished scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting, while Edgar Munaba also went scoreless on 0-for-6. Oilers had stretches of good individual production—Komagum’s 18 points and 13 rebounds were particularly important—but collectively they could not generate enough offence.

Their shooting tells the story: 22-for-67 from the field and 6-for-28 from three.

Namuwongo, meanwhile, shot 29-for-67 and 8-for-25 from beyond the arc.

The Blazers also moved the ball beautifully, finishing with 30 assists to Oilers’ 16, while turning Oilers’ mistakes into 17 points and running for 28 fast-break points. Those numbers paint a picture of a team playing faster, sharing the ball better and consistently getting itself into advantageous situations.

One more game

By the final minutes, the only question was whether Namuwongo could complete the job. Nyembo provided the exclamation point, throwing down a dunk with 1:27 remaining after another Drileba assist to push the lead back to 20.

Moments later, the starters began leaving the floor. Namuwongo had done what it needed to do.

The final score read 82–64.

The series, once seemingly on the verge of belonging to City Oilers at 3–2, was suddenly level again.

Three wins apiece.

One game left.

One team will walk away with the 2026 championship. The other will spend the offseason wondering how close it came.

And perhaps that is the most fitting way for this particular series to arrive at its conclusion. Nothing about these Finals has been straightforward. Coaches have adjusted. Players have answered. Leads have disappeared. Momentum has changed hands. Heroes have emerged and disappeared from one game to the next.

Now there is nowhere left to hide.

Game Seven.

The best two words in basketball.

And for City Oilers and Namuwongo Blazers, they are the only two words that matter now. Game 7 will be played in Hoima Arena in Western Uganda with no team claiming homecourt.

-Basketball256 Editorial

City Oilers 78–73 Namuwongo Blazers

There are basketball games where one team takes control and refuses to let go. Then there are games like Game 5 of the 2026 NBL Finals, where control is almost an illusion. City Oilers and Namuwongo Blazers spent much of Sunday evening exchanging the lead, trading answers and forcing each other to constantly redraw the boundaries of the game before the Oilers finally found the last five points that mattered. When the final horn sounded at MTN Arena, City Oilers had survived 78–73, taken a 3–2 advantage in the best-of-seven series and moved one victory away from their 11th championship. But the five-point margin tells almost none of the story.

Namuwongo began the night with the urgency of a team that knew exactly what was at stake. The Blazers attacked in transition, moved the ball with purpose and repeatedly found ways to get inside the Oilers’ defence, opening an eight-point advantage in the first quarter. City Oilers were struggling to contain the speed of the Blazers and, as the period progressed, it became increasingly obvious that something had to change. Namuwongo eventually walked away from the opening ten minutes with a 23–19 lead, but the Oilers had already begun asking a different question: if they could not win the transition battle, could they simply remove the transition game altogether?

The answer came in the second quarter. City Oilers shifted into a zone defence, and the effect was subtle at first before becoming increasingly obvious. The spaces that Namuwongo had attacked in the opening quarter were no longer as readily available, passing lanes became narrower, and the Blazers were forced to work more in the half-court. The transition points that had helped fuel their opening burst began to disappear. Namuwongo still found ways to score, particularly through its big men, but the nature of the game had changed. Arthur Wanyoto and Anthony Chukwubuka Chukwurah became increasingly important, while the Blazers’ perimeter shooting never really found its rhythm. They would finish the game just 5-for-24 from three-point range.

The adjustment did not produce separation because this series has seemingly developed an allergy to separation. Instead, it produced another exchange. The lead moved from one side to the other throughout the second quarter, with City Oilers eventually taking a 41–38 advantage before Wanyoto’s free throws and the Blazers’ response brought the game back within a possession. By halftime, Oilers had only a two-point cushion at 41–39. The game was less like a conventional basketball game and more like a negotiation: Oilers would move ahead, Blazers would answer, Oilers would respond, and then Namuwongo would take another turn.

It was also becoming a game about the whistle. The officials called the game with little appetite for the kind of physical contact that had been allowed to breathe in earlier encounters, and that changed the economics of Namuwongo’s full-court pressure. The Blazers had used that pressure effectively in Game 4 to make Patrick Rembert uncomfortable and reduce his influence, so there was no reason to abandon a formula that had worked. But on this night, every attempt to make the floor smaller came with the possibility of another foul. The result was a game in which both coaches Stephen Nyeko and Andrew Tendo, had to constantly manage personnel as much as possessions. The game recorded a whopping 28 fouls for City Oilers and 26 for Namuwongo, while several important players finished on four or five personal fouls. Rembert, Lukoji and Titus Lual each finished with four for Oilers; Innocent Ochera and Joel Kayiira also reached four for their respective teams, while Nyembo Fataki fouled out.

And that foul trouble mattered because neither team could afford to lose its important pieces in a game this close. The third quarter became another demonstration of how little separated the sides. Oilers went from a six-point advantage to a one-point deficit and back again. Namuwongo moved ahead, Oilers answered, Namuwongo answered again. At one point, the lead changed hands on consecutive possessions as Okello James put the Blazers ahead 48–47 before Titus Lual immediately answered with a three to restore Oilers’ advantage. A few possessions later, Namuwongo was back in front, then Oilers reclaimed it, before the Blazers closed the quarter with Peter Obleng putting them ahead 42–41. After thirty minutes, the teams were separated by nothing.

Oilers Patrick Rembert

For all the talk of Rembert being the player Namuwongo needed to contain, the Blazers’ pressure did succeed in making his night less efficient from the field. Rembert shot just 5-for-12. But this is where elite players sometimes make the game unfair in a different way. When the field goal attempts became difficult, Rembert found another route to production. He went to the free-throw line 18 times and made 16 of them. He finished with 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and in a game defined by the whistle, he became the player most comfortable living at the line. The same pressure that had helped disrupt him in Game 4 could not be applied with quite the same freedom on this night.

Namuwongo, however, refused to surrender the game. The Blazers entered the fourth quarter with the score tied at 58–58 and immediately went back to work. Nyembo’s interior play, Ochera’s shooting and Drileba’s ability to create kept the Oilers from turning their defensive adjustment into a decisive advantage. With just over five minutes remaining, Ochera hit a three to put Namuwongo ahead 67–64. The arena had another close finish on its hands. Lukoji then answered with a three to tie the game at 67–67, but the Blazers found another response, with Nyembo helping push them back in front.

Then came the sequence that ultimately decided the night. Rembert made two free throws to bring Oilers within two before another trip to the line narrowed the gap further. With 2:54 remaining, Lukoji found Titus Lual for a three that put Oilers ahead 72–70. Ochera would answer with another basket to restore Namuwongo’s one-point advantage, but Rembert responded with a layup to make it 74–73. The Blazers had another opportunity, but the possession did not produce the answer they needed. From there, the game became Rembert’s territory. Fouled with 43 seconds remaining, he calmly made both free throws to extend the Oilers’ lead to 76–73. When on the next play, Ochera missed the three-point attempt out of a timeout, Rembert was fouled again with 29 seconds left and made both shots. Game over.

There is an interesting contradiction in the final numbers. Namuwongo dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 53–40, scored 42 bench points to Oilers’ 10 and produced 19 second-chance points to just three for the Oilers. Yet City Oilers generated 17 points from turnovers and 22 fast-break points, while shooting 46 percent from the field compared to Namuwongo’s 31 percent. The Blazers did almost everything necessary to stay in the game, but they spent too many possessions asking difficult questions of the basket. In the end, 24-for-76 shooting and 5-for-24 from three left too little margin for error in a game decided by five points.

For City Oilers, this was not a game of overwhelming superiority. Their biggest lead was only six. Namuwongo’s biggest was eight. The lead kept changing hands, the defensive approaches changed, the foul situation changed and the pressure of the series kept increasing. What remained constant was the Oilers’ ability to find another answer. Andrew Tendo’s move to the zone changed the game without necessarily winning it outright. His players then had to survive the physical demands of Namuwongo’s pressure and the accumulation of fouls before making the final possessions count. That is what separates a five-point win in Game 5 from an ordinary five-point win.

And so the series now sits at 3–2 to City Oilers, with the Oilers one victory from taking the championship. But perhaps the most intriguing thing about these Finals is that very little has suggested that either team is significantly better than the other. Game 1 belonged to Blazers, Game 2 went to Oilers, Game 3 required overtime, Game 4 went back to Namuwongo, and now Game 5 belongs to City Oilers. Every game has demanded an adjustment, and every adjustment has been met with another response.

The question heading into Game 6, therefore, is not simply whether Namuwongo can win again – They MUST. They already know they can. It is whether they can find the next answer before City Oilers find theirs. Because after five games, this no longer looks like a series waiting for one team to impose itself. It looks like a series waiting to discover which team can make the last timely adjustment.

-Cucu Brian & Kirya Jonathan

There are basketball games that are won, and then there are basketball games that have to be survived. Game 3 of the 2026 National Basketball League Finals was very much the latter. For almost 40 minutes, City Oilers and Namuwongo Blazers traded blows, erased leads and produced the sort of shot-making that made the scoreboard feel almost incidental. Then, with two seconds left and City Oilers leading 64-61, Franck Nyembo Fataki decided the game had not yet earned the right to end.

Nyembo rose for a circus three-pointer and watched it fall, tying the game at 64-64 and sending it into overtime. Five minutes later, City Oilers had survived, winning 76-72 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. But the four-point margin barely captures the drama of a game in which both teams repeatedly found reasons to believe they were about to win, only for the other to produce another answer.

At the centre of it all were two extraordinary shot-makers: Nyembo for Namuwongo and Patrick Rembert for City Oilers.

Nyembo kept asking impossible questions

The box score says Nyembo scored 28 points, a back to back 28-piece, shooting 9-for-25 from the field and 3-for-11 from three, with eight rebounds, four assists and seven fouls drawn. The numbers are useful, but they only tell half the story.

The other half is in the timing of his shots. Nyembo missed plenty, yet Namuwongo continued to put the ball in his hands and he continued to shoot with conviction. At 7:02 of the fourth, he hit a three to bring the Blazers within two at 54-56. Rembert answered with a three of his own, but Namuwongo kept coming.

Jonathan Komagum restored a six-point Oilers lead at 56-62 with 3:18 remaining, and Rembert later made one of two free throws to put the Oilers ahead 63-58 with 27 seconds left. Five points. Twenty-seven seconds. The Oilers appeared to have done enough.

Then Nyembo made a three at 24 seconds to cut it to two. Landry Ndikumana made one of two free throws to restore a three-point Oilers lead. Out of a Stephen Nyeko and Blazers timeout ,the ball went to Nyembo behind the arc, top of the key.

The catch-and-shoot.

The shot went in.

64-64.

Overtime.

The box score records a made three. Those who watched it will remember something much larger: the feeling that the game had been handed back to Namuwongo with just two seconds.

Rembert had been answering all night

Rembert finished with 22 points, including five three-pointers and five-of-six from the free-throw line. Like Nyembo, his overall shooting percentage was hardly spectacular, but the timing of his makes mattered more than the percentage.

His three at 7:29 of the fourth gave Oilers a 56-51 lead, and his free throw with 27 seconds remaining seemed to put the game within their grasp. Nyembo answered, and the duel became less about one-on-one basketball than a conversation carried out through the scoreboard.

Then came the strangest moment of the night.

Oilers Patrick Rembert

With 2.2 seconds remaining, Rembert was initially called for a foul. After review, the officials determined the foul had occurred after the clock expired and rescinded the call. City Oilers were initially hesitant to return for overtime, but after further discussion and convincing, they came back onto the floor.

The game continued.

And Rembert would eventually have the final word.

Overtime belonged to composure

Overtime began at 64-64 and remained tight until City Oilers found another gear. Chukwubuka tied the game at 66-66 with 3:31 remaining, but Landry Ndikumana then scored twice to put Oilers ahead 70-66. Fayed Baale and Joel Lukoji followed, stretching the lead to 74-68 with 1:45 left.

Nyembo refused to disappear. He cut the deficit to 74-70 with a driving layup, then went to the line with 52 seconds left. He missed the first two free throws but made the third.

72-74.

With 12 seconds remaining, he got another opportunity around the basket, missed, grabbed the offensive rebound and missed again.

The final miracle wasn’t coming.

With six seconds left, Rembert was fouled. This time there was no review, no uncertainty and no argument about the clock. He simply made both free throws.

76-72.

Game.

The numbers reveal another story

Namuwongo did many of the things that ordinarily point towards victory. The Blazers dominated the glass 68-50, had a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint, scored 21 second-chance points to Oilers’ 14 and recorded 28 assists to City’s 22.

And they still lost.

The difference was largely on the three-point line. City Oilers made 12-of-34 from beyond the arc; Namuwongo made just 5-of-33. That is a 21-point advantage from three-point range in a game decided by four.

Namuwongo won much of the physical battle. City Oilers won the shot-making battle.

That is why this was never simply Nyembo versus Rembert. Oilers had important contributions underneath their headline act. Jonathan Komagum scored six points but pulled down 13 rebounds. Roebuck added 11 points and 10 rebounds, Lukoji had nine points and seven assists, while Titus Lual and Fayed Baale scored 10 apiece. Ndikumana’s eight points included two crucial baskets in overtime.

Namuwongo had its own supporting performances. Tonny Drileba grabbed 13 rebounds, Chukwubuka produced 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while Jimmy Enabu added 12 points and five assists.

The game was not won by one superstar. It was won by the team that, when the night demanded one more answer, found it.

The meaning of 2-1

This was only Game 3 of a best-of-seven Finals series, but 2-1 matters.

City Oilers now have the advantage after winning the kind of game that can linger in an opponent’s mind. Namuwongo can point to the 68 rebounds, the 42 points in the paint and one of the most memorable individual performances of the Finals. Yet the result belongs to Oilers.

For the Oilers, there is the confidence of knowing they can survive a night when Namuwongo throws almost everything at them. For the Blazers, there is the knowledge that this could be a series where games are won on the very the edge, and that the team that finds ways of pushing over the edges will keep the advantage.

Game 3 was a classic, but it was only Game 3.

The series is 2-1.

The Oilers have the lead.

But after what these two teams produced on this night, nobody should mistake that lead for certainty. If Game 3 was already this good, what on earth does Game 4 have to live up to?

-Basketball256 Editorial