Paul George: Thunder Can Come Back from 3-1 Down, Win Series vs. Trail Blazers

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George told reporters that he believes his team can come back from a 3-1 deficit to the Portland Trail Blazers, who are one win away from clinching their NBA Western Conference first-round playoff series.

According to Jeff Smith of Thunder Wire, 11 NBA teams have come back from 3-1 deficits, with the most recent instance occurring when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

The Thunder's task will be difficult, however, as they will need to beat the Trail Blazers in Portland twice in addition to holding serve at home once to accomplish the feat.

Still, a comeback isn't implausible. The Thunder beat Portland in its own building twice during the regular season en route to sweeping their regular-season series, 4-0.

It's also possible nightly triple-double threat and 2016-17 NBA MVP Russell Westbrook simply takes this series over en route to a comeback.

However, Oklahoma City won't be advancing to the second round unless its shooting improves. The team is hitting just 41.3 percent of its field goals and 30.8 percent of its three-pointers.

The Thunder also must find a defensive answer for the Blazers' starting backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, which is averaging a combined 55.1 points per game. Portland has also been lights-out from deep, hitting 41.5 percent from three-point range.

The Blazers entered Game 5 against the Thunder on Tuesday as 4.5-point favorites, per Vegas Insider.