Written by Dave Deckard at Blazers Edge.com
The Portland Trail Blazers took care of business tonight in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. Their 108-98 victory gave them a 3-2 lead heading home for the clinching opportunity on Friday night. Considering they were missing Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, both out as a result of injury, the Clippers put up a good fight. The contest remained close through three quarters but without Paul’s defense, the Clippers were unable to stop Damian Lillard in the fourth. Lillard’s superhero-level shooting broke open the game. Absent any stars on their side, the Clippers were unable to match. The Blazers broke through for their first playoff road win in their last ten tries…a perfectly-timed one at that.
Game Flow
Portland came out with a smart plan to break the guard trap the near-desperate Clippers were sure to throw tonight. They pushed the ball up the court hoping to beat the press, enjoying the nice side-effect of tiring out L.A.’s depleted roster in the process. Portland’s guards didn’t get much scoring done but Maurice Harkless found the attack tailor-made for his skill set. When he wasn’t scoring on the break he hung around on the baseline. Once the guards got the ball to the center of the floor, L.A.’s defense collapsed inward. This left Harkless all alone for three-pointers or straight drives to the cup. He’d end up scoring 17 points in the first half.
Early Moe-mentum would not last long, however. When the tempo slowed the Blazers found themselves stuck, victims of the same trap they once brutalized. Settling for perimeter shots did not net the same results that the Harkless Dunk Machine provided. Portland’s offense waned as the quarter progressed. Despite this the Blazers first unit defended well enough to force the Clippers into awful shots, building a 7-point margin with 5:00 remaining. The second unit ended up allowing the Clippers easy rebounds and scores in the paint as the quarter closed, losing the entire lead in the process. The score was tied 18-all after one.
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