The Trail Blazers' chances of pulling off the upset in their first-round matchup with the Clippers were not looking good before Game 3. The first two games were dominated by Los Angeles, which did a fantastic job of containing Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
NBA playoff scores 2016: Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum give the Trail Blazers hope for an upset
If the Blazers’ two stars can continue to perform like they did on Game 3, Portland can dream big.
Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
All of that changed on Saturday, Lillard and McCollum combined for 59 points to lead Portland to a 96-88 win that gives Blazers fans everywhere hope for a potential comeback.
The game was close and the Clippers could have won it in the final minutes. Typically a win like this one would be chalked up to the team being ahead in the series succumbing to complacency while the team fighting for survival gives extra effort. That happened to a degree early in the game but the Blazers proved in the second half that they not only have the hunger but also the talent to go toe to toe with Los Angeles.
McCollum and Lillard, which had shot below 35 percent from the field prior to Game 3, were unstoppable Saturday. The gameplan designed to make life hard for them simply failed, as they found ways to get open or make tough shots to counter any attempt at a run the Clippers made. They not only scored in bunches, but they did so efficiently as well, both finishing the game with a tidy 50 percent from the floor.
When Lillard and McCollum play like they did on Game 3, they make everyone else around them better. Suddenly, Maurice Harkless is not a liability because of his lack of range but an energy guy who can get a big tip dunk late in the game. Mason Plumlee is not forced to be a scorer and can focus on cleaning up the glass to the tune of 21 rebounds. Ed Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu can just focus on defense, where they are pests. Lillard and McCollum make a Blazers' roster that looks incredibly flawed on paper make sense when they are at their best.
It still remains to be seen if they can replicate this performance. We simply can’t ignore how well they were defended in past games and how much they struggled. Yet there is plenty of evidence that suggests the version we saw on Saturday is closer to how good they really are than the one from the dreadful two nights in Los Angeles.
It might be too early too say that Lillard and McCollum have found a way to beat the Clippers’ defense, that’s true. But if they have, we have ourselves a series.
3 other things we learned
The Hornets are not dead
The Heat had handled the Hornets with such ease in Miami that it was hard to imagine the series ending up as anything but a sweep. Making matters worst for Charlotte, they were without Nicolas Batum in Game 3. Only the most optimistic of fans could see the a decisive win coming, but that's exactly what happened.
Steve Clifford decided to go big, with Al Jefferson and Frank Kaminsky in the starting lineup, and it paid off. Kaminsky had by far his best game of the series and made key buckets to get the Hornets going. Cody Zeller did better off the bench as well, while Jeremy Lin, who was one of the potential replacements for Batum, contributed 18 points off the bench.
It looks like it was foolish to count the Hornets out before having a chance to see them perform at home.
The Raptors are still vulnerable
Just when it looks like the Raptors are finally turning a corner and becoming a real threat in the East, they have a game like Saturday's, where they let a lesser team like the Pacers completely dominate them. Indiana got a double-digit lead in the first half and never looked back en route to a decisive 100-83 win.
DeMar DeRozan continued to struggle and this time Kyle Lowry and DeMarre Carroll weren't sharp either. That's too many key players not producing as expected for any team to expect to win in the playoffs. The Pacers deserve a ton of credit for playing hard and making this a series. It really shouldn't be going by talent level alone, but the Raptors continue to be mentally fragile, so an upset is not out of the question.
Things got chippy between the Mavericks and the Thunder
The Thunder beat the Mavericks in Dallas for the second time in a row and they can close the series on Monday on Game 5. It’s a good thing this matchup might be over soon because things have crossed the line between physical to officially chippy.
Just in Saturday's game there was an altercation between Salah Mejri and the Thunder's bench that resulted in a double technical for Mejri and Russell Westbrook, who was resting at the time. Then Kevin Durant was expelled for hitting Justin Anderson over the head. In previous matchups, Raymond Felton clashed with Steven Adams and Durant threw an elbow.
Hopefully things don’t escalate from here, because someone could get hurt.
Play of the night
C.J. McCollum is a magician.
3 fun things
Final scores
Pacers 100, Raptors 83 (Indy Cornrows recap | Raptors HQ recap)
Hornets 96, Heat 80 (At the Hive recap | Hot Hot Hoops recap)
Thunder 119, Mavericks 108 (Welcome to Loud City recap | Mavs Moneyball recap)
Trail Blazers 96, Clippers 88 (Blazer’s Edge recap | Clips Nation recap)
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