The Los Angeles Clippers open their playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at 10:30PM ET. Portland is 3-26 all-time in playoff series when losing Game 1.
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The Blazers stuck with LA for a bit, but Chris Paul and the Clippers broke free during the second half and pulled away for a blowout in Game 1 of the first round playoff matchup. Jordan, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have been together in the previous four, J.J. Redick the previous two. They’re big and traditional.
There are many reasons the Blazers might not win this series against the Clippers.
But if the Hall of Fame guard and current TNT analyst were a Clippers fan, he’d be anxious about Portland point guard Damian Lillard.
That makes this group of Clippers invigorated and raring to go for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, which begin Sunday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 at 7:30 p.m.at Staples Center (on TNT). At times when Al-Farouq Aminu moves to the four, look out for whether Griffin may support the bench unit at center. Cole Aldrich had a good game in defeat for Los Angeles, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds to earn his third double-double of the season. The Trail Blazers average 45.5 rebounds per game, making them the fifth-best team in the league for that category. But the young core solidified around incumbent star Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, earning the fifth seed, and a seemingly bright future emerged faster than anyone could’ve predicted. “We had guards on him sometimes”. How do we know?
The Portland Trail Blazers have a stellar 22-5 record when their opponents score fewer than 100 points this season.
Peppered in between their typically steady diet of Redick and Paul blitzkrieg, the Clippers offense was intent on exploiting Griffin’s individual advantage. The Warriors are 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games against Houston, including a five-game playoff win in the 2015 Western Conference Finals.
“He was great, assertive”.
Despite missing the last game-and-a-half, head coach Doc Rivers remained fairly confident that Redick would be fine moving forward.
“I don’t know if I’m anxious”, he said.
Most significant was Griffin’s left-handed dunk on Mason Plumlee, a dunk that screamed “I’m back!” even if Griffin’s postgame comments were a milder acknowledgment that he’s “pretty close to how I want to feel”. That’s a tough matchup for any team in the NBA Playoffs and an odd consolation prize for the victor of the Blazers vs. Clippers series.
“I thought it was the best [Griffin] played since he’s come back from his injury”, Stotts said. “I’m anxious to get started, is what I am”. The Clippers, for the first time in a long while, seem to have a solid sense of who they are and what they’re doing.
Offensively, Griffin should be a competent option in the pick-and-roll, duck-ins and basic post-ups. If the Clippers keep that trend up, even if it’s only for a couple of games, the Blazers will struggle immensely. The victor of this game will face Golden State Warriors (most probably) in the second round of the postseason.
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The playoffs are finally here, and the West seemingly has one, lone series that may have a lower seed advancing.
