True to their tough-as-nails nature, the Portland Trail Blazers aren’t losing their second-round series with the Golden State Warriors without a fight.
That fight was there in the two games in Oakland, but the Warriors had the killer instinct and mental fortitude to win those games. In Game 3 on Saturday, the Blazers’ home crowd fortified them against the inevitable Golden State comeback. Portland took Game 3 120-108, making the series tally 2-1 in favor of the top-seeded Warriors, and giving the Blazers a chance to maybe tie the series at home tonight.
But first, I have seven takeaways from Saturday’s win to share:
- Dame DOLLA Got Wicked: Damian Lillard had the kind of monster game the Blazers needed from him in order to stay afloat in this series. 40 points, 10 assists, five rebounds (three offensive), 8-13 from three-point range, and making a great defender like Klay Thompson look like a baby deer on ice would qualify as a massive, star-level effort.
The utter obliteration of Thompson (who had a huge game himself with 35 points) was surprising in particular. He’s not only a top-five shooter in the NBA, but he’s also a top-five defender amongst wing players; Thompson’s basically a super 3-and-D wing player. And Lillard toasted him. Dame was on another level in that game, and when he has his shot going, nothing short of Kawhi Leonard or a double-team is stopping him.
If you’re Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who do you look to in order to defend Lillard? Thompson would still be a good option, but he tired out after that first-quarter barrage, and having your first offensive option (without Stephen Curry) doing that much work isn’t a good idea. Draymond Green is needed down in the paint, since Mason Plumlee and Ed Davis would eat Harrison Barnes alive if he tried to battle with them on the boards when Golden State goes small. Andre Iguodala plays starter’s minutes, but he’s been a no-show on offense.
I say the Warriors go with Iggy and Thompson in Game 4. Offense isn’t the problem for Golden State right now, even though Iguodala and Barnes have disappeared without Curry to distract defenses.
- Speaking of That Warriors D: Golden State was awful in Game 3. I never dreamed that the Blazers, even on their best day, could hang 120 on the defending champs in the playoffs, yet here we are.
The three-point shooting has been key. The Blazers dished out a taste of Warriors-style offense to the Warriors themselves, and I doubt Golden State likes the flavor. Portland shot 57% (!!!) from three on Saturday, which is beyond disgusting.
Most of that was Lillard being awesome. Going around Thompson, having a secondary defender get screened off him, and shooting before Green could close out was a formula for success for Lillard. He was so good, he scored on three guys like it was the simplest thing on Earth.
Al-Farouq Aminu and Allen Crabbe feasted on the open looks that Lillard’s magnetic presence provided; it was a facsimile of what the Warriors have done to every team in the NBA over the last six months with Curry in the lineup.
Kerr will say that the shooting for Portland was an outlier, which I could agree with. The Blazers have been able to build big leads on the Warriors in Games 2 and 3, though, and on Saturday it cost them. Either they clean up their defensive effort, or they will have to do what every team’s done when playing them: pray their star point guard has a bad night.
- CHIEF!!!! Part Two: Aminu had another enormous night in these playoffs, with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Until his last three rattled out of the hoop, he was a perfect 8-8 from the field, including hitting his first four three-pointers. This from a man whose lack of confidence and bricky shooting was highlighted and crapped on after the first two games of the Los Angeles Clippers series.
Chief has stepped up in a big way during the postseason, averaging 14 points and eight rebounds. He played 41 minutes in Game 3, which is both a mark of Portland coach Terry Stotts’ desperation to win and Stotts’ level of trust in Aminu. Those are Lillard/CJ McCollum-level minutes, and Aminu made the most of those minutes.
And this is a guy that signed a four-year deal for figurative peanuts, when compared to the rising salary cap. Al-Farouq Aminu figures to be a very key player in the Blazers’ latest attempt to return to title contention, both because of his improved play and his cheap contract, which will allow the Blazers to absorb the massive extension for Lillard (which kicks in next season), the upcoming one for McCollum, and also allow GM Neil Olshey as much cap space as he needs to fill out the rest of the roster with players better than the veteran scrap heap guys that teams like the Rockets and Clippers have to scrounge around for.
- Allen Crabbe or Maurice Harkless?: My new dog gave me some major trouble in the opening minutes of Game 3, going nuts and ripping a chunk of skin out of my left middle finger. While I was staunching the blood flow and praying I wouldn’t have to go to the ER (I didn‘t, I‘m fine), the game started off slow. I mention that because I missed the Warriors giving Harkless the Tony Allen Treatment early on, playing totally off of him when Harkless stands out on the three-point line.
Mo countered that in the Clippers series by hanging close to the rim, but the Warriors are much too talented a defensive team (despite their recent struggles) to allow him to score on easy pickings off misses. Green and Andrew Bogut are too savvy and strong for him, and Harkless hasn’t carried over the acceptable outside shooting versus Los Angeles into this series.
Enter Allen Crabbe. Crabbe’s production in 30 minutes of playing time isn’t anything to write home about (10 points, 2-8 shooting, 4-5 free throws), but he is a shooter that the Warriors have to respect. Lillard’s explosion, McCollum’s steady penetration and midrange accuracy, and Aminu’s open threes don’t happen without Crabbe standing ready at the three-point line with a Warrior attached to him.
Plus/minus is the ultimate bench player stat, for me. It measures as accurately as anything the impact a player has when he enters the game. Crabbe’s plus/minus in Game 3 was +25. The Blazers outscored the best team in the NBA by 25 points in the 30 minutes Allen Crabbe was on the floor for them.
Harkless only played 6:33 in that game, since Aminu had his shot going. Do the Blazers pull the trigger on starting Crabbe in Harkless’ place in Game 4? Will Stotts risk Golden State squeezing his offense by ignoring Harkless and playing 5-on-4? Interesting stuff coming out of Game 3.
- Easy Ed Surviving Small Ball: Plumlee had severe foul trouble in Game 3, limiting him to 17 minutes of action. Davis had to step into his place, and he did well until the Warriors went into a watered-down version of their famed Death Lineup.
The Death Lineup usually features Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, and Green playing center. All five are solid to transcendent shooters, with everyone except Curry a very good defender, Curry and Green as superior playmakers, and the deceptive strength and length of Green giving him the ability to defend men the size of Plumlee and Davis. Shaun Livingston replaced Curry in that lineup, and the offense stalled while Lillard made the defensive upgrade from playing Livingston irrelevant.
Davis had eight points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks, but also had to allow Green to shoot 8-12 from three for 37 points. Stotts’ defense calls for the center to hang back in the paint, and although Plumlee and Davis both have decent wheels, Green’s unique skills and great passing could open new holes in the Blazer defense if the Portland centers started chasing Green around.
The Blazers will see more of that Death Lineup, especially when Curry returns. They can’t get suckered into going as small as the Warriors, not with Green being such a great rebounder. That’s why watching Davis play alright, while helping on the boards, was somewhat encouraging.
Besides, Draymond Green is not shooting 8-for-12 from three again; he might not make another eight threes for the rest of the series.
- Klay Thompson is Not a Top Guy: Ignore anyone saying otherwise. Thompson’s shooting and defense may both be elite, but his drives are just straight dashes to the hoop against a defense loaded up to stop him. He doesn’t kick the ball out. He doesn’t help on the boards. He is still learning how to carry a team, instead of mooching off the best player in the world.
Thompson may have had a huge point total in Game 3, but he also had one rebound, one assist, and three turnovers. He’s impersonating Reggie Miller, a guy who did nothing but run around tons of screens, shoot, then run back the other way. Miller never was good enough to be the top guy on a championship team, and Thompson looks to be cast from the same mold.
Klay is a much, much better defender than Miller ever was, but you wouldn’t know it after Lillard put him through the grinder on Saturday. His game isn’t diverse enough to carry the Warriors for longer than a few minutes or a quarter of scorching shooting.
Against the Blazers, it wasn’t a problem until Game 3. Against any of the teams Golden State could face in the later rounds, it’ll be a huge problem right from the first tip. If you’re a Warriors fan (there were a few at the game Saturday), Steph Curry can’t return soon enough.
- Your Usual Reminder To Appreciate Terry Stotts: With the way respected, successful coaches are getting chewed up throughout the NBA lately (Frank Vogel and Dave Joerger both were let go in the last few days), you can’t ever be sure about a coach anymore, especially one who will be without a contract the instant his team is out of the playoffs, like Stotts.
Stotts definitely deserves to be back, and his relationship with the brass hasn’t been exactly full of friction, but everybody except those who are also chiefs of personnel is at risk in the coaching world. It also must be said that Damian Lillard has known only one pro coach, and that’s Terry Stotts. He loves Stotts, and the empowering messages he’s been sending all season, allowing his young players to grow their games and stretch their boundaries, have endeared him to the roster.
Still, the NBA coaching scene has been insane the last couple years. Egotism among the general managers (who themselves are under pressure) and owners of the league are trumping results.
If this does end up being Stotts’ final moments as Blazers coach, he can walk out with his head held high and his talents in demand (don’t think the Pacers, Grizzlies, or Kings don’t know Terry’s situation here in Portland). While he is here, I hope he gets his share of credit and love from the fan base; he’s as much a part of the Blazers’ success this year as his players.
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