Trail Blazers vs. Clippers: Game 5 Score, Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs
If there were any doubt how important Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are to the Los Angeles Clippers during crunch time, it was eliminated after Wednesday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Portland won Game 5 of its first-round playoff series on the road, 108-98, behind a strong second half. The Clippers didn't have Paul on the floor to direct the offense or stop Damian Lillard down the stretch and were outscored 63-48 in the second half.
The Trail Blazers are now ahead 3-2 and one victory away from a second-round showdown with the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
Lillard had a quiet first half, but he finished the game with 22 points, five assists and three steals. His backcourt mate, C.J. McCollum, poured in 27 points, while Mason Plumlee added a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. The two guards connected on seven three-pointers and carried the offense in the second half:
As for the Clippers, it was a balanced effort without their two stars. Six different players scored in double figures, but it was DeAndre Jordan who turned in the most impressive effort with 16 points, 17 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Even with Jordan's formidable night, Portland controlled the early going and jumped out to a 14-7 lead. That was not particularly surprising considering the inexperience the starting Clippers were working with, via Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated:
The Clippers bounced back to tie the game at 18 by the end of the first quarter, thanks to some of the energy Cole Aldrich brought off the bench. He found Austin Rivers in transition for the game-tying basket, via NBA TV:
Despite the spurt for the home team, Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl was not impressed with the low-scoring quarter and said, "First quarters in this series have been so bad that both teams should just agree to play bourre for the first 12 minutes."
The Trail Blazers started the second quarter on a 10-4 run to seize a 28-22 lead, but the Clippers battled right back to take a 35-32 advantage after a Jeff Green dunk. Holdahl pointed to one of the biggest problems for Portland in the first half:
Green threw down yet another dunk, and Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times tweeted, "Aggressive Jeff Green = best Jeff Green." The rim felt some of Green's aggressiveness on his second slam, via NBA TV:
After Green's stretch, the Clippers used a team effort to build a 50-45 halftime lead. Five different players scored at least seven points, but it was Jordan who was filling the role of stat-sheet stuffer without Paul and Griffin:
Another key for the Clippers was the fact Lillard only had three points and was 0-of-5 from the field even though Paul wasn't there to hound him on the perimeter. Arash Markazi of ESPN did note, "Chris Paul, wearing a cast on his right hand, is effectively acting as a coach at the end of the bench tonight."
Lillard finally hit his first field goal early in the third quarter to put Portland ahead, 51-50. The three-pointer came after Paul Pierce missed a layup on the other end, and SB Nation's Clips Nation was ready to see the veteran on the bench after he started 0-of-3 from the field and committed three fouls:
Pierce wasn't the only problem. The Clippers started the third quarter 0-of-10 from the field and didn't score until Green hit from the free-throw line with 6:24 left until the fourth. At least Los Angeles had Jordan down low to throw down acrobatic dunks:
Jordan dunks or not, Portland held a 71-62 lead with just more than two minutes left in the third quarter behind McCollum's 18 points. The guard had David Aldridge of NBA.com praising his efforts:
However, the Clippers entered the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run and tied the game at 71. Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com said they "have all the momentum," but Lillard made sure that quickly changed with a three-pointer, steal and dunk in transition to put Portland ahead, 83-76, with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN said it was a "great move by Terry Stotts to keep [Lillard] in to start the fourth quarter and allow him to get going against the Clippers bench." Patrick Murphy of TheOzone.net commented on the Portland point guard:
It seemed like the Trail Blazers finally created the separation they needed when they were up 92-80 with less than seven minutes left, but Erik Gundersen of the Columbian said the visitors were "not out of the woods yet" because Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless both had five fouls.
Even with the foul trouble for their teammates, Lillard and McCollum put Portland ahead by 16 at 102-86 with three straight baskets. The game was essentially over at that point with less than five minutes left, and Gundersen summarized the run from the Trail Blazers backcourt:
Lillard continued adding exclamation points when he banked in a three to make it 105-88 and left the Clippers defenders essentially helpless. J.A. Adande of ESPN.com said, "Austin Rivers [threw] his hands up in disgust," while the Trail Blazers had some fun down the stretch:
The Clippers never threatened in the final minutes, and Portland seized control of the series with the 108-98 win.
What's Next?
Game 6 is Friday in Portland.
The Trail Blazers have an opportunity to close things out at home against a short-handed Clippers squad, especially since they have momentum after three straight wins. The Trail Blazers already won the first two contests in Portland with Paul and Griffin on the floor (although the pair suffered their injuries in Game 4), and Portland proved Wednesday it can make critical plays in the second half.
As for the Clippers, they now must shift into the cliche "one-game-at-a-time" mindset facing a 3-2 deficit. If they can find a way to win Game 6 in Portland, they get the decisive Game 7 back on their home floor.
Beating Lillard and McCollum in two straight games would be difficult even with a healthy Paul and Griffin, but that is the only way Los Angeles will get a shot at the Warriors in the second round.
Postgame Reaction
After the game, Lillard didn’t miss an opportunity to reference his own All-Star snub when talking about the players the Clippers were missing because of injury, per Bolch: “Neither team had an All-Star out there.”
NBA TV shared more of Lillard’s comments:
As for the Clippers, Rivers brought up last year’s playoff comeback against the San Antonio Spurs when looking for optimism, per Kavner: “We were down 3-2 in SA when everybody thought we were out, and we found a way to win. We still believe we can win this series.”
Jamal Crawford also took solace in the fact most of the games in this series have been closely contested, per Kavner: “All the games, pretty much, have been tight, the games we lost. ... We’re very confident we’ll get it done and be back here Game 7.”
The Clippers will need that confidence if they are going to find a way to beat Portland without their two biggest playmakers.
