Ladies and gentlemen, the series is tied! After an embarrassing showing in games one and two in Los Angeles, the Trail Blazers have routed the Clippers in games three and four in Portland, and they are all tied up! And as exciting as it is, it’s not nearly as exciting as it should be. Because although the Blazers beat the Clippers at full capacity in game three, the same cannot be said for game four, and for the rest of this series for that matter. As you all know by now, the Los Angeles Clippers lost both of their two stars, Chris Paul (fractured right hand) and Blake Griffin (strained left quad) in the last 18 minutes of game four. The Clippers have realized every playoff team’s worst nightmare, and the Blazers are suddenly the favored team to win out of this series. I want to see the Blazers’ magical season continue just like everyone else … but not like this.
It may not be the most popular perspective, but the truth is, any win that the Blazers get from here on out in these playoffs will have a big, fat asterisk sitting right next to it. For anyone that has been watching this unlikely success story from the beginning of the season to now, it’s a bitter ending. Win or lose, the Blazers, and its city, are getting the short end of the stick.
If they lose, they will have lost to a watered-down Clippers squad, making them look that much worse, as their season comes to an unnecessarily-early close. If they win, they will have done it without having to face Paul and Griffin, whose team is +259 points when they’re on the floor this season. And I dare say, when they then move on to the second round to face the defending champion, Golden State Warriors, it will be without the record-breaking, reigning MVP, Stephen Curry. And although the Blazers are responsible for handing the Warriors one of their nine total losses during the regular season, if (ENORMOUS IF) they should happen to get past them, it will still go in the record books with an asterisk next to it.
The reason this season has been so special is not because this team of unknowns continuously found ways to win games. This season has been special because this Blazers team of unknowns has continuously found ways to win against teams, who are playing at their absolute best. That is the Blazers’ story of the season. They win in a way that disarms other teams of excuses, and that is what we will remember about this team and their season. So as cool as it is to see the Blazers winning in the playoffs when nobody expected them to be here in the first place, it cheapens their brand of basketball if they’re not beating the best when they’re at their best.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
