After a statement making performance in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have started to look like a very different team in as they’ve lost three games in a row to go down 1-3 in their series with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Before the playoffs, Damian Lillard put the NBA on notice when he caught fire entering the bubble and dragged his Trailblazers squad to the eighth seed to take on the top seeded LA Lakers.
A lot of people doubted that Portland would give Los Angeles a tough series, but Lillard and his crew continued to play on a different level to take Game 1, 100-93, with Lillard finishing with 34 points. CJ McCollum had 21 points, Carmelo Anthony finished with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Jusuf Nurkić finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
However, after that amazing total team effort win, the Blazers started to decline and the Lakers capitalized.
In Game 2, Los Angeles tied the series, 111-88, after Anthony Davis dropped 31 points and 11 rebounds. For Portland’s side however, only Lillard and McCollum scored double-figures for the starters. McCollum only had 13 points, while Lillard had 18 points but he was forced to sit-out the fourth quarter after he injured his hand.
You can’t really say that the loss was due to Lillard’s injury, but the game was pretty far out of reach already.
Game 3, was closer as both teams went neck and neck with Los Angeles coming out on top, 116-108, Lebron James had a 38 point-12 rebound performance, while Davis finished with a double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds along with eight assists, two steals and three blocks.
Portland on the other hand finally saw their stars get back on track. Lillard dropped 34 points, five rebounds and seven assists, while McCollum finished 28 points and eight rebounds. Anthony had a 20 point performance as well but despite their stellar game, the Lakers showed composure down the stretch and were able to hang on to take a 2-1 lead.
Game 4 was another showcase of dominance for Los Angeles as they took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, 134-115. Right out of the gates, the Lakers quickly established their force and gave a tribute to the late great Kobe Bryant on Mamba Day by establishing a 24-8 lead at the 4:58 mark of the first quarter.
The Lakers had a total team effort with seven guys scoring in double digits. James led the way for them with 30 points, six rebounds and 10 assists.
As for the Blazers, things just keep getting worse for them. They were able to match-up in scoring as eight guys scored double digits, but they weren’t able to get any big points form their stars. They couldn’t get it going on the defensive end either, even finding themselves down by 38 at one point.
To add salt to the wound, Lillard only had 11 points in Game 4 before he suffered an injury on his right knee in the third quarter which caused him to miss out the rest of the game.
It’s been confirmed that Lillard will not be joining the Blazers in Game 5.
So, what went wrong in the last three games for the Blazers?
The answer is the same reason why they had a hard time locking a playoff spot, inability to play great defense for 48 minutes.
In Game 1, Portland held the Lakers under 100 points, and they won the game. Throughout the game, they were successful in slowing down the offense of the Los Angeles and force James and Davis to do all the work as they shut down their role players.
However, in the next three games, the Blazers failed to keep up, and now that the Lakers’ have begun to start games strong, it looks like the next game will be the last.
If you’ve been reading my articles about the playoffs lately, you know that I had them winning this series but right now, me and the great Charles Barkley are once again on the same boat.
