17,000 come to Rose Garden for free Blazers scrimmage

The Rose Garden was packed Sunday evening with 17,000 people looking for a free glimpse of their favorite players at the annual Trail Blazers FanFest.

The intra-squad scrimmage at 6 p.m. was a chance for fans to see the team before the Oct. 6 exhibition opener. Festival seating arrangements allowed any fan to sit close to the court.

Nicholas Batum scored the first basket and had the team high of 18 points.

Team leader Brandon Roy was amused by the turnout.

"Seventeen thousand people. That's a lot for a scrimmage," he said chuckling. "We were excited."