Trail Blazers vs. Clippers: Game 1 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 Playoffs
The Los Angeles Clippers opened their postseason with a convincing 115-95 win over the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center on Sunday.
They used a strong second half to secure the victory after the Trail Blazers hung within single digits for most of the first half.
Chris Paul led the way for Los Angeles with 28 points and 11 assists, including this dime to power forward Blake Griffin in the third quarter:
Los Angeles received a boost from Griffin, whose 19 points were the most he has scored since returning April 3 after a three-month absence because of a quad injury, a broken hand and a suspension.
Griffin also finished with 12 rebounds.
He looked to be in midseason form early on, barreling into the lane for a dunk and old-fashioned three-point play to give Los Angeles a 12-9 lead:
ESPN's J.A. Adande liked what he saw from Griffin on the play:
The veteran finished the first quarter with 11 points, and the Clippers led 26-21. However, it wasn't all roses for Los Angeles, as it had to overcome an awful free-throw attempt by center DeAndre Jordan:
At that point, Portland was hanging around behind the strong play of Damian Lillard, who finished the quarter with a team-high eight points. It wasn't surprising that the Blazers were playing well, considering the strong turnaround they had in the second half of the season:
| Points | 101.4 | 109.7 |
| 3-Point Percentage | 36% | 38.1% |
| Free-Throw Percentage | 72% | 78.8% |
| Record | 19-26 | 25-12 |
However, Jordan did more than miss free throws, finishing with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, including this monster slam on a fast break to keep Los Angeles in front, via the Clippers:
Paul and Griffin made a difference in the second quarter when they re-entered the game within a few minutes of each other. Griffin drew two free throws on his first possession back, and Paul helped ignite the Clippers with back-to-back baskets.
Portland outscored the Clippers 16-10 with Paul on the bench, but Los Angeles had a plus-six point differential for the rest of the first half when the point guard was on the court.
Paul had 14 points and five assists at the break, while Griffin had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times noted the Clippers finished strong despite ignoring the three-point line in the first half:
It helped that Portland missed 11 of its final 12 shots of the half.
Jason Quick of CSNNW.com praised the Clippers for taking star guards Lillard and C.J. McCollum out of their games and allowing Al-Farouq Aminu to take open shots:
Lillard and McCollum got their fair share of points (30 combined), but they had to work for them on 10-of-28 shooting.
Paul and the Clippers didn't have to work hard in the third quarter, as they outscored Portland 31-24 to take an 81-66 lead into the fourth quarter.
During one stretch, the former Wake Forest Demon Deacons star nailed the team's first three-pointer before swishing a two-point jumper on the next possession to give his team a 13-point lead.
Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune thought Paul had the edge over Lillard at that point:
The Clippers finished just 6-of-17 from downtown and they won this one partially with stellar rebounding. They are the second-worst rebounding team in the playoff field (42 per game in the regular season), but the Clippers grabbed 48 boards Sunday, compared to Portland's 40.
No lead is safe in the NBA, but the Clippers kept up the intensity in the final quarter and never let Portland close the gap to fewer than 14 points. It helped that Los Angeles shot 53.8 percent from the field, while Portland connected on just 39.8 percent of its shots.
Portland head coach Terry Stotts turned to the Hack-a-Jordan defensive strategy late as Joe Freeman of the Oregonian prepared for a long fourth quarter:
Jordan shot just 43 percent from the free-throw line during the regular season and hit eight of 18 attempts Sunday, but the deficit was too much for the Blazers to overcome.
J.J. Redick added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting for Los Angeles, while Aminu recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Portland.
The Clippers held serve at home and will play another game at Staples Center before the series shifts to Portland for Games 3 and 4.
Postgame Reaction
Griffin was happy to be back on the court and playing well again, per ESPN.com.
"I felt really good," Griffin said. "Our offense was really clicking. We were doing the things that we wanted to do and that helps when you're getting easy shots. I got some right at the basket early, so that helps."
Head coach Doc Rivers was impressed with his play, according to ESPN.com.
"He was explosive," Rivers said. "Blake got himself going through the flow of what we were doing. Today was the first day he had great timing."
Everyone seemed to be glad to have Griffin playing like the Griffin of old, including Jordan, per ESPN.com.
"If he plays like that, we're a great team," Jordan said.
The opposition wasn't exactly glad to see the offense and defense clicking for the Clippers, according to ESPN.com.
"We just didn't score the ball," Lillard said. "Usually the things we get to with myself and CJ—ball screen actions, flairs and pin downs—they were pretty disruptive. It was tough to deal with."
The Blazers, however, didn't seem too impressed with the victory, according to their Twitter account:
Speaking of not being impressed, Rivers didn't have much to say when asked about the "Hack-a-Jordan" strategy, per Dan Woike of the Orange County Register: "When you're down, you might as well."
