The Clippers and Blazers were on display for my viewing pleasure on Monday night. Two once-first place teams were now hovering in the middle of the playoff pack in the increasingly deep Western Conference. The Blazers were expected to be a bit worse than last season's iteration, while the Clippers have smashed the lowly expectations that were placed upon them. Despite their identical records (17-13), the two teams are at vastly different places in their team timelines. The Clippers are basically just starting their journey with this current group, while this Blazers team is much more well-traveled. Different expectations naturally come with each situation.
In terms of the game tonight, Tobias Harris had one of the quietest 39-point games (15/22 FG, 11 boards) I've ever seen in all my years of basketball. Meanwhile, Damian Lillard's 39 came with a bang propelled by big crunch time shot after shot. The Clippers truly rallied at the end, but the Blazers ended up taking this closely contested battle 131-127. After surprisingly vaulting themselves to the 1-seed in recent weeks, the Clippers are now on a four-game losing streak. Below you'll find the game recap in addition to my thoughts on the future of each franchise.
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Game Recap
First Quarter
From a spectator's perspective, the opening minutes were a whole lot of good with very little bad to boot. Both of these offenses came out firing to start the contest! Dame was in his bag with a dunk to go with some beautiful cuts, while Gallinari threw down a thunderous slam of his own for red-headed step-children of LA. Portland was just a step quicker though, as a furious Doc Rivers let out a guttural "TIMEOUT" yell to the men in stripes. Portland up 18-10 in the early going.
After that timeout, LA proceeded to turn the ball over on their next two possessions in a row to give free opportunities to the visitors. Lillard and McCollum both cashed in on their chances by nailing these tough, contested looks to pile that lead on tenfold, 30-18. Jusuf Nurkic was beginning to find his stroke on the inside too. They were in a rhythm no doubt, but the Clippers managed to close the quarter on an encouraging 9-2 run to cut it to an eight-point game 37-29.
Second Quarter
We saw a little bit more defense to begin the second. Points weren't flowing nearly as freely for Portland as the Clippers battled to protect the hoop. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander started finding his stroke for the Clippers, which sent the home crowd into a complete frenzy. Who doesn't love seeing your draft pick put up big shots against a playoff team? LA whittled it to a two-point game right as we crossed the six-minute mark 49-47.
The Blazers were feeling the Clippers breathing down their necks. Right as Portland made a bucket to stop the bleeding, the Clippers countered with a three and Tyrone Wallace basket to grab that the lead back 51-52. The Clips ended up holding a narrow advantage after the concluding buzz of the first half. Portland would've gone into the half up by two but the Clippers led a four-point turnaround to go up 58-60.
Third Quarter
The start of the third was fairly back-and-forth, until Doc Rivers started running his mouth at the refs - then everything seemed to go Portland's way. The Trail Blazers found themselves at a ten-point advantage thanks to marksmanship on the perimeter and big play from Dame. You could tell the Clippers were anxious to find their offensive rhythm but they just couldn't break free of the rut. Tobias Harris was the only one feeling the groove out there for the Clips.
Meanwhile, Damian Lillard was going ape-shit on the hapless Clippers! It was all-Blazers in the third as Damian tallied nineteen points in the quarter alone as they outscored the home team 42-28. LA just couldn't get their defensive cohesiveness together as the Blazers pulled away by fifteen, 97-82. Almost 100 points surrendered and we were still two minutes from ending the third quarter??? Not the effort Doc Rivers or Clipper fans were hoping for. They had twelve more minutes to figure it out.
Fourth Quarter
The Blazers led by as much as eighteen, but the Clips came out firing to trim the disadvantage to eleven thanks to an SGA three, 108-97. A swift cut to the rim around the 6:40 mark netted SGA a new career high of 20 points. Clippers still trailed by ten 113-103. The offense was cooking, but the defense needed to remember how to clamp.
Luckily for the Clippers, Portland started making little mistakes here and there that gradually receded the lead to dangerously close levels. A wide-open Tobias Harris drive set the Clippers down only six with four minutes to go 117-111. Shai Gilgeous was the one who facilitated that, following it up with a trip to the line the very next possession for two made free throws. Clippers still down six 119-113.
Crunch Time
The Clippers were doing an excellent job of getting to the line and making their free throws. As a Laker fan, I was low-key jealous of their success at the stripe. They cut it to a three-point game off some Patrick Beverly and Gallinari freebies 121-118. Clippers had the ball with the chance to cut it to one or tie - and Gallinari tried the old "pass to yourself off the backboard then dunk" trick which he epically botched! Blazers got the ball back and went to the line for two made free throws. Five-point game 123-118.
Then something happened that sent the Clippers and their fans IRATE. Gallinari went up for a three and he thought he was obviously fouled by the Portland defender, but no call from the refs! Damian Lillard charged down the court for a quick and easy basket to push that lead back to five. Upon looking at the replay, it seemed like a pretty obvious call for the refs. They defend shooters so tightly beyond the arc, but it did look like Gallo was hooking Aminu for that foul. Maybe that's what the refs judged it based on.
Tobias Harris found himself at the line for two series of free throws where he made three out of four to make it a two-point game 125-123. Portland was either going to give themselves some breathing room or a fat whiff of anxiety depending on how this next possession went with 45 seconds left to play. CJ McCollum drove left for the step-back and sunk a midranger to make it 127-123 Blazers up. On the other end the Clippers jacked up a few bad threes but ended up giving the ball back to Gallinari - who sunk it for the three! One-point game 127-126. Team owner Steve Ballmer was sweaty in an excited rage.
CJ McCollum made it back to the line where he sank both free throws. Clippers responded with their own free throws but their prized rookie SGA missed one of two! It was still a three-point game before Lillard went to the line and shot free throws where he made one. Nine seconds left to play and the Clippers were down four. There wasn't much they could do as the Blazers claimed victory in a high-octane affair 131-127.
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Takeaways
We can question Kevin Durant's professional decisions all we want, but we'd be foolish to deny his basketball analysis. On a recent podcast with Bill Simmons, Durant remarked that out of all the rookies he's seen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has stuck out the most to him. He missed a couple big free throws at the end but SGA put up a great overall performance on both ends in a 23-point effort. If you're an NBA fan, I hope you catch a Shai Gilgeous game this season.
This Clippers team has been compared to the George Karl Denver Nuggets star-less squad from several years ago. Gallo was arguably the head guy on that very same Denver team. A hell of a regular season team but I think they ended up losing in the first round. I could see a similar fate falling upon these Clippers. Maybe they'll get lucky and sneak into the second.
This Clippers team is one star away from being legitimately dangerous. It's as if their lowest common denominator is higher than most other teams in the league. All of their guys are just kind of good from top to bottom. If you throw a free agent like Kawhi Leonard in there, they might be almost as good as his currently amazing Raptors squad.
Regarding the Blazers, props need to be given for gutting out a close win in enemy territory. But hey did let the Clips back in it after being up by eighteen. Portland fans won't be happy by the process, but they'll take solace in the result.
Portland continues to thrive in pressure situations thanks to the continuity on their roster. Despite the playoff shortcomings of last year, guys like CJ McCollum, Damian Lillard, and Jusuf Nurkic know how to battle the trenches of the regular season grind. You really have to squint to imagine a future where these three are the main pieces of a championship puzzle, but maybe you can hold on to one of them in the event of a blow-up.
I think if you're going to keep anyone, you hold on to Damian Lillard. He might be the piece that nets you the most in a trade, but I think he's got that JUICE to come up in big playoff moments. McCollum and Nurkic I'm not so sure. I'll always remember Dame hitting a that ungodly deep three in Houston to knock the first year Harden/Howard Rockets out of the 2014 NBA playoffs. One of the ballsiest shots I've seen.
Dame the real talent out of all these guys. From a franchise perspective, I think Portland needs to do everything they can to hold onto the formidable point guard from Oakland. You have to prioritize talent over everything in NBA roster construction. Jerry Buss understood it, it's why he did everything possible to keep Kobe in a Lakers uniform in 2007 when Kob requested a trade. Fast forward about a year later and they have Pau Gasol and are back in the Finals. A lot can change with the right minds pulling the strings and a little bit of luck.
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