December 5th, Miami Arena, the Portland Trail Blazers away game against the Miami Heat.
In anticipation of the Heat's arrival, the Miami city administration had constructed this comprehensive sports arena on the coast. It officially opened in 1988 and became the home court of the Heat.
The arena could accommodate 15,000 fans, which, by number, meant that this new venue was not very large.
Just like the Beckley Center, from the day it was built, this arena already showed signs of decline.
As a new arena it was too small, overly conservative in design and construction, lacking foresight, all tied to the rush to get it finished and in use promptly.
Last season, when Tang Jianguo had come with the team to play an away game in Miami, he said that if the Trail Blazers were to build a new arena, it could absolutely not be like the Miami Arena—too small, too outdated, no different from the Memorial Coliseum.
