The Portland Trail Blazers are arguably the most deceiving eighth-seed since the ‘We Believe’ Warriors. They’re here, all locked and loaded to be the next brash underdogs to knock-off the number one seed in the first round.

Catch Game 2 tomorrow at 9:00 AM (Manila time).

HOME TEAM: #1 Los Angeles Lakers (0-1)

Oh, boy. Game 1’s 100-93 loss was quite the revelation. No one was entirely sure coming in, but the Lakers have now officially confirmed that they will indeed sweat this series out. Who’s to say they can even get out of this?

One concerning this is that the Lakers weren’t complete crap. They regained their form in the second half, contained Lillard for an extended time, and even jumped into an 87-81 lead with six minutes remaining. It showed that ultimately, they may struggle matching the Blazers shot for shot, especially in the clutch.

Anthony Davis had a team-high 28 points but he was only 8-for-24 from the floor and started off shooting 1-for-9, while Danny Green (4/12), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (0/9), and Alex Caruso (1/6) combined to go 5-for-27. The Lakers collectively shot a season-low 35.1% and missed 27 of their 32 attempts from three.

LeBron James filled the stat sheet with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 16 assists, and became the first player to record a 20+, 15+, and 15+ line in the postseason. However, as efficient as he was, he again failed to make timely baskets.

It should be interesting to see what adjustments they’ll make for Game 2. The offense has to come alive, so despite his defensive inefficiencies, maybe Dion Waiters shouldn’t be limited to 73 seconds of playing time.

ROAD TEAM: #8 Portland Trail Blazers (1-0)

The Blazers extended their winning streak to five following the Game 1 victory. It went against the notion that they can’t defend or survive low-scoring affairs as it featured their lowest-scoring output in a win this season and they also held the Lakers to their worst shooting night of the year.

Headlining everything, of course, is Damian Lillard. The All-Star scoring machine is still running wild and he’s not showing signs of slowing down. Though it appeared that Dame was being contained in the third quarter this past Wednesday, he responded just in time as he hit three key three-pointers in the 5:46 of the fourth period, demoralizing the defense at each turn.

Lillard is averaging 37.2 points per game in the bubble and should feel confident that he’ll continue his rampage. The Lakers seem to have very little clue as to how he should be defended, and no one duel with him if he’s casually swishing shots from 30 feet.

Unlike James and Davis, Lillard will be enjoying solid help from the supporting cast. Though they had bad shooting nights, each made up for it on different areas – CJ McCollum was a shaky 8-for-20 but buried clutch shots; Carmelo Anthony and Jusuf Nurkic combined to go 7-for-22 but collectively had 25 rebounds and eight assists.

PREDICTIONS:

Watch out for the Blazers’ probable X-Factor, Hassan Whiteside. The 7-footer has been pushed aside in the bubble but came into Game 1 to provide quality minutes off-the-bench (7 PTS, 8 REB, 5 BLK, 25 mins).

The Lakers will aggressively try to get AD going early, but LeBron must also know that he has to dig deep and activate ‘Takeover’ mode – if he still has that. Lillard and the Blazers offense will eat them alive if they keep playing things safe.

I expect a better shooting night from the Lakers, but you don’t go against Dame Time at this juncture. Portland takes a two-zip lead, 113-108.