Can the Trail Blazers pull a (slight) upset of the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2016 playoffs?
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The Los Angeles Clippers finished the regular season with the fourth best record in the Western Conference and will now have home court advantage against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Griffin almost had a triple-double in Game One, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
“I thought it was the best he’s played since he came back from his injury”, said Portland coach Terry Stotts, referring to the 45 games Griffin missed with a quad ailment and a broken hand before playing five games to end the regular season.
The extra emphasis paid off for the Clippers in Game 1, they edged Portland 37-30 in total rebounds and grabbed 11 offensive boards compared to 10 for the Blazers.
In my prediction for the ClipsNation staff round table, I said that the Clippers would loose game one due to rust, having not played any significant National Basketball Association action for the last few weeks. Assertive, I love his energy. I mean, our offense was really clicking. His energy, his endurance. “It forced us to play small for 48 minutes a night, which I didn’t think I would ever do, but it allowed is to get into a great rhythm”. Olshey spent nine years with the Clippers and helped construct the Paul-Blake Griffin-DeAndre Jordan core.
The primary reason why Griffin was able to be so effective was because of Chris Paul (28 points, 11 assists), who set the tone of the game from the onset. “It’s not the exact way you would have wanted it. But we got him back, and that’s better than not getting him back”.
McCollum, in just his third season, played only 24 minutes in the playoffs in 2013-14.
Helping Lillard was veteran guard Gerald Henderson, who had 16 points, and forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who tallied 10 points with 12 rebounds.
“They should want us,” Rivers said of the Trail Blazers, who won”t have the backing of their fans in the series opener Sunday night at Staples Center. Lillard had a team-high 21 points, but hit just seven of 17.
“There”s also the angle involving Portland General Manager Neil Olshey versus his old team. “But we know that we have a chance”. “All season long they’ve given a lot of attention to my ball screen as well as CJ, and they did a good job”. The Clippers scored 65 points in the second half ending the game with a 20-point lead against the Trail Blazers. Nobody expected them to make the playoffs, let alone as the fifth seed. (The entire Trail Blazers team only had six free-throw attempts in the first two quarters.) The Trail Blazers tried several strategies but none really worked. It is just that Chris Paul and the Clippers have a way of disappointing when the postseason comes. In the past four seasons, Los Angeles has reached the conference semifinals three times and lost in the first round once.
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“It’s very clear what their players do will. I don’t know if you can necessarily lock in on one or two things against the Clippers, because they are pretty well-balanced and their roles are pretty well-defined”. The Clippers, though, are a -304 favorite on the series prices at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. after winning three of four regular-season matchups against Portland, which is a +200 underdog. The series shifts to Portland for Games 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on April 25.
