The fan who traveled the farthest to cheer for the Blazers on Saturday surely was Masayuki Hayashi, who flew in from Tokyo. He came to the Rose Garden wearing a well-worn Blazers cap and a Brandon Roy T-shirt, and held a paper lantern --with a battery-powered light bulb in it --that had "Trail Blazers" written on it in Japanese characters.

Hayashi has been coming to Portland for 20 years. Originally, he came here to see his sister, who married a Portlander, and bring Japanese food and gifts to his nephew. He became a Blazers fan after attending an NBA Finals game against Detroit in 1990.

"They moved back to Japan, but I still come to Portland to see the Blazers," Hayashi, who tries to attend the home opener and another game each year, said in Japanese.

Hayashi said a great highlight for him was in 1994, when he attended two games in Yokohama, where the Blazers opened their season against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"That was very special," he said.

The Far East feeling Saturday carried over to the press corps, in which 15 journalists representing Chinese media were in town following Houston center Yao Ming.

Darren Jiang, a bilingual employee at Nike, sat in the media seats Saturday and helped the reporters with interpreting. Jiang lent a hand even though Yao is sponsored by Reebok.

The Glide returns: Clyde Drexler, in his fourth year as a commentator for Rockets telecasts, doesn't usually take road trips. But he insisted on going to Portland.

"I cannot lose," Drexler said before the game. "These are my two favorite teams in the whole world, and to see them play each other is a tough task."

Drexler downplayed this Blazers team's lack of playoff experience.

"I think experience is overrated when you have talent," he said. "When you have talent, you can do anything. This is an extension of the regular season. Nothing changes. The ball is still round, the hoop is still 10 feet. The court is still 94 feet."

Drexler said he was proud of the Blazers' progress on and off the floor, pride that was scarce around the Rose Garden only a few years ago. Everything from financial woes to player misbehavior to losing records conspired to pull the franchise toward the drain.

"It took some hits for a decade, but I think they could be back," the Blazers great said. "LaMarcus Aldridge is a stand-up guy. Brandon Roy is a superstar who's a good guy on and off the court. (Greg) Oden is one of the nicest young big men in the game. So they've got a good foundation.

"I think (Steve) Blake and (Joel) Przybilla round them out, and those guys are very solid off the floor as well."

Iconic Tee: Between the transit center and the Rose Garden's entertainment area, hawkers were selling T-shirts bearing the likeness of Blazers three-point marksman Rudy Fernandez. One was in the style of the Barack Obama "Hope" poster, another in the image of Che Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary.