Well, that was heart-attack inducing. The Portland Trail Blazers continue to win when it counts and this game is no exception. In fact, it just shows how far this team has come just from a year ago. My battle cry, so to speak, has been that “I want to care in April”. That grew out of the desire to not see this team flop in the second half of the season or go through a horrible 13-game losing streak. With Portland beating the Golden State Warriors 119-117 in an OT thriller on Sunday night, they have now won eight of their last nine games and look to be surging into the postseason. Something Blazer fans have not been able to say very frequently.
Portland improves to 53-28 on the season, while the Warriors fall to 49-31. Portland has one game remaining against the Los Angeles Clippers and that game could be important depending on a couple of factors. With this victory, Portland sits just a half game back of Houston for the fourth seed and home court advantage in the first round. Like I said in a previous post, Houston owns the tie-breaker, which is unfortunate to say the least. Houston has two more games remaining and will have to lose both of them to give the Blazers a chance to catch them. Portland, however, will still need to win against the Clippers, which is daunting task itself. As you can see, a lot of things have to happen for the Blazers to even be in a position to take the fourth seed away from Houston. It is quite possible that Houston will lose to the Spurs Monday night depending on if the Spurs will finally rest some of their core players. If the Spurs do rest their players, it is still up in the air because, well it’s the Spurs. However, then Houston will have to lose against New Orleans, which is not something I am willing to bet on.
Either way, Portland should be thrilled that they face Houston in the first round, as they are far from being 100 percent health-wise, and the fact that they secured the fifth seed, while so many teams are fighting for the final three spots in the West.
After taking some time to think about this game after coming down from the initial energy and excitement of it, the entire season felt like it came down to this game against the Warriors. Not only was it important from a basketball and seeding standpoint, but it also felt like the final exam before you graduate. The Blazers have struggled as of late in beating Western Conference playoff teams. Yes, they did beat Memphis a couple of weeks ago; however, they were not technically in the playoffs. Recently, it has seemed that Portland gets the short end of the stick when it comes to last second game winners (Miami, Golden State, Houston). Anybody remember the last game against the Warriors at the Moda Center? Portland led by as many as 18 in the middle of the third quarter, but thanks to the absolute unconscious play from Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the Blazers watched as yet another close one slipped away.
So, there was the task of trying to fight through those statistics and how Portland has seemed to play against high-caliber teams. There was the obvious seeding pressure since a Portland win locks in the fifth seed. I would also say that there was the obvious tension between these two teams as both have not exactly hugged it out after a game is over. Finally, this was a big test in terms of seeing this team change direction. Unfortunately, Portland fans have gotten used to coming into these kinds of games with a pessimistic attitude or negative outlook over the past couple of seasons. Let’s face it, in the past couple of years, when Portland has needed a win, they tend to flop to a bad team or fight their hearts out against an elite team, but come up just short. Anybody remember the Utah game last year at Moda Center?
Regardless, with the win against Golden State and in the most dramatic fashion possible, Portland has showed the Blazer fans that direction is being changed and that previous statistics need to not be treated as gospel.
Now that I rambled enough, I figure you would want to hear about the actual game. Well, fortunately for basketball fans, both teams came ready to play and, really, both teams played spectacularly. Regardless if you are a fan of the Warriors or the Blazers, you have to give these players credit. This was an entertaining game of basketball. I would argue that it should be top 10 for games played this season in the NBA, but definitely the best game for the Blazers. Where do I begin?
This game featured everything. Ridiculous three-point shooting, seemingly impossible shots bounce high off the glass and go in, great defensive play from both sides, back-and-forth lead changes, and high-intensity and stressful environment.
It is hard to even discuss everything that happened in this game as that would be a whole other post. However, the stats and the scoring spread for each quarter explain quite a bit. I will also touch on some of the more memorable plays in the sea of fantastic and mind-blowing plays. In the first quarter, Portland got off to a somewhat sluggish start as they fell behind 16-9 with 4:54 remaining in the quarter. The three-pointers started flying early for Golden State as Curry hit his first with 9:33 remaining in the first quarter. However, Portland surged back as the defense tightened up and the bench for sides came into play. Thomas Robinson was huge in the first quarter as he corralled a few crucial rebounds and went 2-for-4 as well as providing his usual energy and intensity. After all that had happened early in the quarter, Portland had a four-point lead going into the second.
The second quarter was all Golden State as they outscored Portland 33-21. Stephen Curry went 5-for-7 from the field, including two made three-pointers. Harrison Barnes also provided some offensive punch for the Warriors as he went 3-for-4 from the field, including one three-pointer. However, what really killed Portland’s momentum was the end of the quarter. Portland, usually so good at ending quarters, had one of their biggest blunders. With just 0:48 remaining in the second quarter, the game was tied at 44-44. Damian Lillard, in the span of 15 seconds, had two bad passes that resulted in a lay-up and a three by Curry. As if it couldn’t get any worse, Curry was fouled taking his final shot of the half from three-point land resulting in three free throws. Not even a minute had passed on the clock and Portland was staring at an eight-point deficit.
In the third quarter, Portland struck back outscoring the Warriors 32-23. LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, and Mo Williams led the offensive charge. Matthews went 3-for-4 from the field in the third, including two made three-pointers. Mo Williams was 2-for-2 and LA was 3-for-6.
LA carried the Blazers early in the quarter making two shots to bring the Blazers within four quickly. The defensive screws tightened once again, especially on Wesley Matthews’ end. A switch flipped for Matthews. He came out of a timeout and looked more determined than ever before. On the defense end, he refused to let Curry get an inch and even if Curry took a shot it was contested. A three that sticks out is one that Matthews made with 1:05 remaining. Mo passed the ball to Matthews in the corner, but had to wrestle with Curry to gain possession. Already scrambling, Matthews shot a 23-foot three-pointer as he was falling away and drilled it giving Portland a five-point lead. However, Portland only had a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Portland kept firing on all cylinders thanks to Nicolas Batum and Mo Williams and increased their lead to 10 with 8:56 remaining. Then Curry and Thompson got possessed. Curry went 7-for-12 in the fourth quarter, including three three-pointers. The guy is a maniac. Klay Thompson, struggling with foul trouble all night, went 3-for-3 in the quarter, including two three-pointers. Playing Golden State, you have to view the scores a bit differently. A ten-point lead against this team might as well be a four-point lead with how good these two players can shoot from distance. After taking each other’s punches for a whole quarter, Wesley Matthews went the line with 0:12 remaining and drilled two free throws giving the Blazers a three-point lead. You can see where this going. Draymond Green threw up a prayer that somehow went in. You would take that any day of the week considering that players with the names Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were not attempting the shot. Another aspect that made you scratch your head was the fact that Portland did have a foul to give. It is quite possible that they didn’t even need to go into overtime to win this game. Those are the moments in the playoffs where you have to communicate so the players know all of their options, especially in the closing seconds of a game. But, alas, overtime it went.
An interesting factor that was growing as the game went on was the foul trouble on Golden State. Curry, Thompson and David Lee all had three fouls in the third quarter. At the end of the fourth quarter, David Lee had fouled out, Klay Thompson had four and the big man, Andrew Bogut, got elbowed in the ribs and was forced to be taken out of the game. Ultimately, I think the Bogut injury hurt them the most. However, give credit to Wesley as Curry only took four shots and made just one. After absolutely going off in the fourth quarter, Curry was nowhere to be seen in the overtime. Klay Thompson got hot, however, as he went 3-for-4 in OT, including two three-pointers. However, Thompson fouled out in the closing seconds of overtime as Lillard drove down the lane to increase their lead. With 0:07 remaining in overtime Lillard missed free throw that allowed Golden State a chance to win on a three-pointer, this was the moment where Portland had to switch gears in a sense. Curry made the right play as he found a wide-open Andre Iguodala, but his three-pointer just did not go in and the dramatic-filled and rage-inducing game was over. Run out of the building, Portland.
This game was a boxing match. People use that term a lot, but it felt like it. So many “dagger 3’s” were made and each team had a crazy answer for anything. After watching this game, you have to tip your hat to the backcourt of Golden State. Both Curry and Thompson are way too good at hitting three-pointers and really infuriate you in the moment. The one thing you will start to notice is that both of them have such quick releases to their shots that they only need to come off a screen for a second before they attempt a shot. That brings a little extra excitement and urgency when attempting to play defense on Golden State.
Portland finished the game shooting 50% from the field and shooting 42% from three. The stat that kills any Portland fan is the FT line. Once again, confidence was a bit shaky as Portland only went 23-for-32 and shot just 72%. Portland went to the line twice as much as Golden State, but could not convert on quite a few.
Golden State shot 48% from the field. However, the stat that is jaw-dropping is that they finished going 17-for-37 and shooting 46% from three. Way too good.
Portland’s starting lineup all contributed and Mo Williams showed up big time for Portland.
LA finished with 26 points on 11-for-23 shooting and had 7 rebounds.
Batum finished with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, 3-for-5 from three, 5 assists and 12 rebounds. Batum’s game gets lost behind the games of Matthews and Aldridge, but Batum had a fantastic game and shot very efficiently.
Lillard struggled offensively, but did hit a clutch three-pointer in the fourth quarter and ultimately shot the final two shots of the game for Portland. He finished with 13 points on 3-for-13 shooting, 2-for-6 from three and had 5 assists.
Robin Lopez finished with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting and had 7 rebounds.
The hero for Portland, however, was Wesley Matthews not only on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end. He finished with 24 points on 6-for-13 shooting, 4-for-10 from three with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Matthews did it all and really showed his emotion a few times during this game.
Finally, Mo Williams finished with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting and really carried Portland through some tough stretches in the middle of the game.
Portland will get a couple of days off before playing the final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Clippers. It is quite possible that Portland will rest some of their starters if there is no chance in catching Houston for the fourth seed. This game doesn’t mean anything to the Clippers as they have locked up the third seed, so this could be a nice game to see Meyers Leonard get extended minutes or even get Joel Freeland back in the mix (who was active during the Golden State game, but never played). Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. PST at the Moda Center on Wednesday night. Stay tuned!