Trail Blazers face elimination against Grizzlies in Game 5

The Portland Trail Blazers will be on the road for Game 5 of their first round playoff matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies. The game tips at 6:30 p.m. PST and could be the last game of the season for the Trail Blazers. They did finally break through in Game 4, winning their first game against the Grizzlies this season and avoiding a sweep in the series. The Grizzlies have another shot to close out the series and get a chance to win in front of their home crowd. The game will be broadcast on TNT and KGW while Rip City Radio 620 AM will have the radio call.

The kryptonite that is the Memphis Grizzlies has finally been broken. Game 4 was like a breath of fresh air as the Trail Blazers finally defeated the Grizzlies. The victory was not easily earned but it was nice to see the team come together down the stretch and put away a team. As the Trail Blazers face a steep uphill battle, they must continue to fight and not throw in the towel quite yet. They face another road game at the Grind House and it will not be a cake walk.

Conley will once again be out for tonight’s game which means the Grizzlies will once again turn to their back up guards. Beno Udrih and Calathes have stepped up in a big way, playing quality minutes. With Conley out, Lillard was finally able to take advantage of his matchups in Game 4. The Grizzlies took notice of this as they tried to have Allen guard Lillard in the second half. Lillard is too quick for Allen so for the Grizzlies to successfully keep Lillard in check, Udrih and Calathes must step up their defense.

It would be great if Aldridge and Lillard could both be hot on the same night. Why not tonight? Aldridge has struggled against Randolph yet he has done a great job of limiting Randolph’s contributions. In this series, Aldridge is averaging 23.8 points and 11.8 rebounds which are both higher than his regular season averages. The problem has been his field goal percentage as it sits at 34.0 percent for the series while he shot 46.6 percent during the regular season.

As stated, Lillard has been much more effective without Conley guarding him. He had a huge Game 4 and was the main component of the fourth quarter comeback. Lillard had 32 points (a new playoff career-high) and shot 52.2 percent from the field. Conley’s tight defense was strangling Lillard’s ability to create his own offense as well as distribute the ball. In the first three games, Lillard had assist totals of two, three, and one. He totaled nine assists in Game 3 and seven in Game 4. His facilitation is vital for the Trail Blazers to create open looks.

Tonight the Trail Blazers will need to bring their A-game. The Grizzlies are looking for their seventh straight home victory over the Trail Blazers which dates back to January 2013. The Grizzlies have held the Trail Blazers to 89.3 points in their last six visits to FedExForum. After a Game 4 win, getting blown out in Game 5 would be terrible for the Trail Blazers. If they lose, I hope they lose respectfully.

As David MacKay wrote in an article earlier today, Meyers Leonard has emerged as a very viable frontcourt option in this series. This could not have come at a better time as Lopez and Chris Kaman have struggled. He will get another chance to prove that his performance in Game 4 wasn’t a fluke. C.J. McCollum has also come on strong averaging 22.0 points over the last two games while shooting an average of 61.9 percent from the floor. He has had some bad turnovers and taken a few ill-advised shots along the way, but that’s expected for a young guard. With Leonard and McCollum in the lineup, the Trail Blazers have been better. Check out this interesting note on there involvement from Game 4:

I look for the Trail Blazers to be competitive tonight but I’m not sure they can defeat the Grizzlies on the road. They have a little momentum going into tonight’s contest. If they can limit their turnovers while playing consistently over all four quarters, they will have a shot to win.

Next: Bold prediction: Blazers win Game 5, they win series