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After the dismal loss in the 1984 Finals, Jerry West, the general manager of the Lakers, refused to panic. He believed that the Celtics exposed their weaknesses in the Finals; they didn't seem as tough, at least, in West's view, they weren't as formidable as the Celtics during Bill Russell's era. Furthermore, to a certain extent, the Celtics were unable to play a slow game for an extended period; they were more reliant on speed than people imagined.
These two points were partly confirmed in a 1985 game between the Trail Blazers and the Celtics at the Garden, giving West and Riley some confidence. However, they had to pay more attention to the rising Portland Trail Blazers and the center Sunny Gan, who seemed to be the second coming of Bill Russell. Watching him play against the Lakers, West had a sense of a recurring nightmare, which unsettled him.
