Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Los Angeles Clippers.
It’s Damian Lillard’s world and we’re all just lucky enough to walk the same ground. My goodness, what a couple of days for the Dame Show. He broke the internet by dunking all over the Lakers, then followed that up by releasing his first signature shoe for Adidas. He could run for president and unanimously win with just 99.1% of the vote, the missing 0.9% held out ceremoniously for, well, you know.
The national media has started to question if he’s better than Chris Paul. He has 232 fourth quarter points, tops in all the league. He has clawed his way into the MVP discussion. He has become appointment television.
And, right on cue, here comes a nationally televised game on ESPN against the Clippers. Get ready for some fireworks. Tonight Damian Lillard is Fergie, and we're all Steve Ballmer.
PRE-GAME:
This was supposed to be the year the Clippers were in the championship discussion, but they’re a somewhat disappointing 25-13, sitting at just sixth place in the Western Conference bloodbath. Their bench is possibly the worst in the league, so bad that it makes Portland’s bench from last year look like the ‘98 Bulls. Jamal Crawford is still the nominal sixth-man, but after that things get ugly quick. Hedo Turkoglu? Big Baby Davis? Jordan Farmar? Those dudes were all washed up four years ago.
Not even Spencer Hawes, their big off-season acquisition, has been able to move the needle. The Blazers were reportedly in on Hawes over the summer, but he spurned them for Los Angeles. The Blazers settled on Chris Kaman instead, ending up with the much better end of that deal.
In keeping with the Doc Rivers mantra of only signing players that were good four years ago, the Clippers apparently have interest in picking up Nate Robinson. Yep, pair him with Jamal Crawford and that will certainly help shore up any bench deficiencies.
The Blazers will have their hands full with both Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan roaming the painted area. Since Robin Lopez and Joel Freeland hit the shelf with injuries, Portland’s interior defense has been a little lacking. The Clippers would do well to throw up as many lobs for their rolling big men as possible.
Portland’s next three games are all against tough Western Conference opponents. If they manage to survive this gauntlet, get ready for every media outlet to run an article about how the Blazers are title contenders. The one knock on the team has been their easy schedule. Time to put those worries to rest.
FIRST QUARTER:
11:09 - Chris Kaman sunk a nice little jumper in the lane, but then failed to get back on defense. DeAndre Jordan beat every Portland player down the floor for the easy dunk. 2-2 Tie.
10:02 - More Jordan. Again after an Aldridge make, he was able beat the Blazers down the court for a dunk. He has every clippers point thus far. 6-4 Clippers.
8:34 - The Clippers must have seen something they really liked in this match up. They are running with reckless abandon, doing their best to get down the court before the Portland defense is set. And yep, it's working, as Jordan picked up his third dunk of the night. 10-6 Clippers.
6:22 - Matt Barnes is sticking to Wesley Matthews behind the three-point line, so Matthews faked the three and drove to the rim for the easy reverse lay up. 14-10 Clippers.
5:22 - Meyers Leonard into the game, Meyers Leonard with the easy baseline jumper. 16-12 Clippers.
4:34 - Dame with his first shot, and make, of the game. He had Blake Griffin on a mismatch, did a little shake and bake, and hit the three right in his face. 16-15 Clippers.
2:08 - If you leave Jamal Crawford wide open behind the three-point line, he's going to bury it. CJ McCollum missed him on a switch, didn't close out, and...whoops. 23-17 Clippers.
1:00 - Big Baby fell down trying to guard Aldridge. Went for a sort of halfhearted steal, but hit the deck instead. Yep, there's Big Baby in a nutshell. 25-19 Clippers.
0:00 - LaMarcus hit a jumper, off a nice pass from CJ, to end the quarter. Take out a couple of easy transition buckets for the Clippers and this one looks a lot different. 27-21 Clippers.
SECOND QUARTER:
11:29 - Chris Kaman with the baseline jumper to beat the shot clock. The Blazers need to blitz this bench unit on the floor for Los Angeles. 27-23 Clippers.
9:26 - Meyers faked the three, took a couple dribbles to the free throw line, and nailed the easy jumper. The biggest shock of the season has easily been his competency. That it's not just an explosion of limbs when he moves is such a welcome surprise. 29-25 Clippers.
8:56 - Steve Blake behind the back to Kaman for the and-one. We see you, former Clippers. 29-28 Clippers.
7:11 - Uh oh. Jamal Crawford is feeling it. He has a little extra hop to his step, a little more bounce to his crossover. He sunk a deep three in Blake's face, and Blake was lucky not to get a foul called on him as well. 36-30 Clippers.
6:09 - Another three for Crawford. He has fifteen on the night already. 41-32 Clippers.
3:55 - Griffin and Paul are torching the Blazers on the pick and roll. When Aldridge drops back too far Paul just pulls up for the easy jumper. When Aldridge tries to blitz, Paul is finding Griffin, who has been on fire from the mid-range tonight. 45-38 Clippers.
2:53 - Loud cheers for Aldridge on that jumper. He took it at Griffin, but pulled back with a nice crossover dribble. Griffin slipped, fell to one knee, and Aldridge sunk it right in his face. 45-42 Clippers.
2:20 - Aldridge has 22 points on the night already. Wow. 46-44 Clippers.
0:58 - Wow, that was a terrible sequence. Chris Paul tripped Dame, who hit the deck. Griffin put his hands all over Dame, nowhere near the ball, and referee Ed Malloy called a jump ball. The Clippers won it easily and ran out into transition, Matt Barnes missed a layup, but Meyers was called for a phantom touch foul. The fans here are livid. 50-47 Clippers.
0:00 - LaMarcus put on a show, but outside of that, it didn't feel like the Blazers played a particularly good first half. Their transition defense was porous and Lillard was a complete non-factor. That they're only down one is a great sign. 50-49 Clippers.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:38 - Well, not the best start to the half. Dame turned it over, and Matt Barnes drained a triple on the other end. 53-49 Clippers.
10:51 - Dame is trying to get his offense going here to start the third, but he's missed twice. Chris Paul, on the other hand, just drained LA's second triple of the quarter. 56-49 Clippers.
10:19 - Aldridge with the power move, grabbing his own miss and knocking down the and-one. He's on something else tonight. 56-52 Clippers.
9:02 - The Clippers have come out with a flurry of triples, but the Blazers are hanging tough. LaMarcus poked the ball away from JJ Redick, then ran the floor and picked up the transition foul. After two freebies, he's up to 27 on the night. 59-57 Clippers.
7:35 - Ugh. The Blazers had three looks from distance—one desperation heave and two clean chances off of offensive rebounds—but all three just rimmed out. Redick nailed the triple on the other end. 64-57 Clippers.
6:25 - This might be the worst game Lillard has played in awhile. I'd say it could be because partied a little too hard with Future after his shoe release yesterday, but the Clippers are actually doing a great job of bottling him up. They're aggressively doubling on every pick and roll, forcing the ball out of his hands. At least on his last miss Aldridge was there to clean it up. 66-59 Clippers.
5:56 - The bad news is Lillard still can't find his shot, missing again at the rim. The good news is the Blazers were able to secure the offensive board and draw three quick fouls on the Clippers. They'll now be in the penalty for the rest of the way. 66-61 Clippers.
4:36 - Aldridge was all like, "Mo Freaking Williams scored 52 last night?! Watch this." 68-65 Clippers.
2:42 - Meyers has more points than Dame and Batum combined. That's...uh, not a winning strategy. 70-68 Clippers.
2:09 - Thirty-five points and eleven rebounds for Aldridge, and there's still over a quarter left to play. 72-70 Clippers.
0:00 - After a couple of Meyers Leonard free throws to tie the game, both teams went on a flurry of wild possessions but nobody was able to connect. The crowd was set to explode if Portland could have taken the lead, but they'll have to wait until the fourth for another chance. 72-72 Tie.
FOURTH QUARTER:
10:16 - Hey, look at that! The Blazers have the lead! They've been trying to get over that hump all night long. 76-74 Blazers.
9:22 - The Meyers Leonard / Chris Kaman two-man game is real. Kaman posted, kicked to Meyers behind the three-point line, then took a pass from Meyers, drove the lane, and threw down a loud dunk with his left hand. Timeout Los Angeles. 78-74 Blazers.
8:03 - Technical foul on Matthews. He was driving into the lane and drew a foul on Redick, but the ref claimed Wesley threw a high elbow near Redick's face. 78-77 Blazers.
7:23 - It must be the fourth quarter, because Dame sunk just his second field goal of the game. Y'all know what time it is. 82-77 Blazers.
6:41 - Meyers set a nice screen for Dame, who finally got a little space behind the three-point line. Money. The fourth quarter is real. Believe in the fourth quarter. 85-79 Blazers.
5:08 - You guys. Lillard. It's all happening. He sunk a three off the dribble, fading away from the basket. 88-85 Blazers.
4:35 - Uh oh, the Clippers are in the penalty from here on out. And Chris Paul has done a masterful job of drawing fouls on the last two LA possessions. 89-88 Clippers.
3:59 - After missing what felt like his previous eight shots, of course Jamal Crawford sunk that rainbow three to beat the shot clock buzzer. Timeout Portland. 92-89 Clippers.
2:19 - Nervous time. After the Blazers were able to secure a stop, Chris Kaman threw the outlet pass away. It will be LA ball after the timeout. 92-89 Clippers.
2:03 - Crawford for two. Uh oh. 94-89 Clippers.
1:16 - After DeAndre Jordan was able to block and secure a Matthews shot in the lane, Wesley got a little angry and went to try and steal it from Paul. The two collided hard at mid-court—from here it looked like Paul really threw his elbow into Matthews—but the Clippers got the two freebies. The Blazers are going to need either a whole lot of Lillard time, or a whole lot of luck. 96-91 Clippers.
0:27 - Matthews with a chance from three...and he missed everything completely. Batum was able to draw a jump ball with Griffin on the miss, but the Blazers are all but out of time. 96-91 Clippers.
0:23 - Clippers won the jump ball, Paul drew the foul, and this one is all but over. Ugh. 98-91 Clippers.
0:17 - The Blazers aren't going to win, but it's never over with Dame on the court. He sunk a ridiculous, double-clutch three to give the Blazers just a glimmer of hope. It's down to the foul game, but Paul was able to sink both his freebies. 100-94 Clippers.
FINAL: 100-94 Clippers. Too bad. This Clippers team is not that good. This was about as well as they could have hoped to play and still it felt like Portland should have crushed them. LaMarcus did his best, Dame finally showed up in the fourth, but Chris Paul was just too much at the end. Bank the loss and move on, because Portland has two tough road comes coming up against the Spurs and Grizzlies.
