It was the eve of the NBA playoffs for the Trail Blazers on Saturday when the players and coaches filed into the theater at the team’s practice facility for a film session. It was the final preparation before Sunday’s Game 1 against Oklahoma City, so the mood was serious, the players focused. They knew this could be the most important film session of the season.



What they didn’t know is it would be the most memorable.



Film study is a sacred session for NBA teams, one that requires uninterrupted concentration. Never, players say, have the doors to the theater opened while they were in session.



So imagine the reaction Saturday morning when the handle started to rattle and the doors began to shake open.



“All the sudden, you could hear the door opening,” Seth Curry said. “And I knew it must be something worth it because nobody is going to walk in during a film session unless there is a good...