Dame and CJ play like stars again, Blazers win Game 3 vs. Clippers
It’s fair to see that Portland Trail Blazers star guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum did not play to their full capabilities in the first two games of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. The high-scoring duo both made no more than one-third of their field goal attempts in the two losses at Staples Center, combining to average 31.5 points per game, more than 14 fewer than their regular-season average. Given how much credit the duo has received for Portland’s surprising success, it’s not surprising that the No. 5 struggled to score with consistency in L.A.
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Lillard and McCollum’s fortunes changed considerably in Saturday’s Game 3 at Moda Center. The former bounced back particularly forcefully, matching a career playoff-best 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field (3-of-8 from deep) and 9-of-9 from the line. His return to star-level play helped propel the Blazers to a 96-88 victory that cuts the Clippers’ series lead to 2-1.
McCollum was excellent, as well, putting up 27 on 11-of-22 shooting, including eight points in the fourth quarter.
Yet the biggest bucket for Portland came on a McCollum miss, not a make. Up 89-86 with 55 seconds on the clock, the shooting guard missed a tough step-back jumper with the shot clock winding down. Fortunately, Moe Harkless was there to clean it up:
It was the second big basket in a span of just over a minute for Harkless, who had given Portland an 88-85 advantage on a nice spin move at the 2:00 mark. These baskets were part of a larger 15-1 game-winning run over the vast majority of the final four minutes. That crunch-time dominance helped the Blazers avoid what would have been a devastating three-game hole.
Harkless’s big plays were part of a number of contributions from Portland role players. While Blazers other than Lillard and McCollum shot only 35.6 percent from the field and 1-of-12 on threes, this game would not have ended in victory if not for their performances. That’s especially true of Mason Plumlee, whose 21 rebounds and nine assists put him in select company in franchise history:
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Despite all these successes for the hosts, the Clippers had a legitimate chance to win this game before their offense cratered in the closing moments. That’s largely because of Chris Paul, whose 26 points and nine assists kept them in it when most every other offensive option failed. Blake Griffin (12 points on 5-of-16 FG) and J.J. Redick (five points on 2-of-10 FG) had especially rough nights to help the Clippers finish with only three three-pointers (on 18 attempts), their lowest output of the season.
The silver lining for L.A. is that they had a lead in the final four minutes despite so many things going wrong at the offensive end and Lillard and McCollum having far and away their best game of the series so far. Expect both teams to come in confident for Monday’s Game 4.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
