Monday night the Portland Trail Blazers took care of their home court by beating the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4. That evened the series at 2-2 and now it is virtually a 3-game series.
As I sat in the Moda Center Monday night, I had a few thoughts on what’s happened, what’s coming, and how this team got here.
1 – Obviously the Chris Paul injury is dominating the news today, and that is not unwarranted. Paul is one of the best point guards to ever play the game, and his game has dominated the early part of this series. The 9-time All-Star has led the Clippers in every facet of the first three and a half games of the series. Paul averaged 24 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds per game; but even more importantly he held Damian Lillard to 20.5 points per game and shooting only 37% from the field. That is the defense of a guy who has been on the NBA All-Defensive First Team, 5 times!
The Clippers will miss that guy for sure. There is no replacing a guy like that. Austin Rivers is the backup point guard, but he is anything but a pure point guard. He can play tough defense on Lillard, but only in spurts. Rivers is a streaky shooter that makes mistakes with the ball in his hands. Besides Rivers, Pablo Prigioni comes off the bench to play a reserve point guard but he is not the offensive or defensive threat either of the other two point guards are.
2 – This series has quickly become all about Lillard. That is a little crazy to say. This is a team sport. Lillard is one guy on a roster of 15. But now, especially with the Paul injury, it is all about Lillard. He has always been a guy that has played with a chip on his shoulder, an underdog. For the first time all season, Lillard and the Blazers are now the favorites in the series. I fully expect Lillard to come out with a killer instinct in Game 5. For the first 4 games, Paul was blanketing Lillard on every move. Paul will now be wearing a suit, sitting on the bench. If Lillard doesn’t come out smelling blood in the water, and attacking guys like Rivers and Prigioni, the Blazers could be in trouble.
3 – There is no secret that the Moda Center is a major home-court advantage, but Monday night it was clearly evident. During the regular season you will see a large contingent of fans wearing gear from the opposing team, a few Sonics jerseys, and then a few token throwbacks. Monday was different. I could probably count the amount of fans with Clippers gear on, on one hand Monday night. It was all Red, Black, and White all over the Moda Center, and it was awesome! After going 28-13 at home in the regular season, the team is now undefeated in the postseason. Friday night, when the Blazers and Clippers return to Portland for Game 6, I expect the atmosphere to be even more electric, and for the Blazers to stay undefeated at home in the postseason. Which leads me to my next thought…
4 – Game 5 will decide this series! I know that is not going out on much of a limb, but I fully believe it. If Portland wins, they will win the series after winning Game 6 at home on Friday. If the Clippers win Game 5 on Wednesday, they will win the series after winning Game 7 on Sunday. Paul is done for the series and the season. Blake Griffin may be the hinge of this series. Griffin is said to have a 50/50 chance of playing on Wednesday. If the Clippers are missing Paul and Griffin, with the Blazers having all of the momentum at this point in the series, the Blazers have to steal Game 5. If the Clippers find a way to win Game 5 without their two best players, momentum will swing, Griffin will find a way to get back on the court for Game 6, and the Clippers will be back in control.
5 – Coach Terry Stotts got hosed! Tuesday, it was announced the Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors, will be named the NBA Coach of the Year. Kerr had 64 first-place votes and 381 total points. Stotts finished 2nd with 37 first-place votes and 335 total points. It is hard to argue against anyone rewarding the team that won 73 games in the regular season. My beef is that Kerr missed 43 games this season, only coaching 39 games. Luke Walton had a better record than Kerr did while heading up the Warriors this season. Stotts came into the season with a team that Vegas said was going to win 27 games, had 4 new starters, and a bunch of unknown pieces of the roster. Coach Stotts turned that group of pieces into the 5st seed in the West, and a team that is in position to win a Playoff series. Coach Stotts would have been my vote, by a long shot. For what it is worth, I would have voted 1 – Terry Stotts 2 – Brad Stevens 3 – Steve Clifford 4 – Greg Popovich 5 – Luke Walton.
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