The Portland Trail Blazers had kept their playoff hopes alive with a win in Game 4 at home on Monday. Despite the Memphis Grizzlies missing starting point guard Mike Conley, and despite the Trail Blazers looking like they would find a way to take control of the game for stretches, and despite a career game from C.J. McCollum, it was not to be in Game 5 tonight. They fell 99-93, ending their season and opening a Summer of uncertainty and possible change.
First thought
This game had many of the trappings of a standard Trail Blazers loss (poor rebounding, struggles from both Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge), but it also looked in many ways like a win (unexpectedly big contributions from the bench, mostly solid defense, never falling all too far behind). It wasn’t until a Grizzlies run late in the fourth that the game started to slip, and by then there wasn’t enough time to flip the switch and make up the ground that had been lost.
If the Trail Blazers can keep their core and find a way to translate their pugnacious tenacity when trailing into throat-stompingly merciless runs while ahead, next season they’ll make the jump from good to great.
Recap
The Trail Blazers started with a turnover, and opened in an 0-8 hole thanks to Zach Randolph scoring from midrange early. Before you could even catch your breath, the Trail Blazers had to battle. Meanwhile, they looked about as comfortable on offense as a polar bear in a sauna. There was no structure, flow, or order to their first few offensive possessions. After a timeout, Aldridge fell over and coughed up the ball to the Grizzlies, and the Trail Blazers were down 13-1 before Lillard finally hits a lay in. Ouch.
It was 15-6 with six minutes to go in the opening period when McCollum and Meyers Leonard checked in, and while the offense woke up, it still was less deliberate and more desperate… not necessarily a bad thing to dig yourself out of a double-digit hole.
With McCollum and Leonard in, the Trail Blazers looked like a basketball team. Lillard pushed into the middle and finished through an intentional foul for the and-1, but LaMarcus was struggling something fierce. It was an amazing turn after those first few minutes, nonetheless. Lillard was going into the heart of the defense, diving on the ground, taking charges, and setting the tone. With a McCollum jumper, the Trail Blazers finally tied it at 20 to end the first.
1st quarter stats:
- Grizzlies: 9-21, 1-5 from deep, 20 points, 5 assists, 4 turnovers
- Trail Blazers: 7-17, 1-5 from deep, 20 points, 1 assist, 4 turnovers
Aldridge got his first bucket against Jeff Green, and Steve Blake hit a jumper to give the Trail Blazers their first lead at 24-22 with 10 to go in the half. On a drive, McCollum was pushed in mid-air by Green, resulting in a flagrant and some free throws that McCollum split. He then hit a three, making it 28-24 Trail Blazers with nine minutes to go, forcing a Memphis timeout. And even if he wasn’t doing much of anything right, Arron Afflalo was working hard on defense, and recovered fast enough to prevent a Memphis three.
The game stayed close as an obscene number of offensive rebounds was buoying a sputtering Memphis offense, and Vince Carter, while not playing particularly well, was doing a great job and amping up the crowd.
The Trail Blazers fell behind, but stuck with it, and it was 38-37 Grizzlies with 1:30 to go. Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers allowed a Grizzlies run, and found themselves down 46-39 at the half. Of note: the Grizzlies had 10 offensive rebounds to the Trail Blazers’ two.
1st through 2nd quarter stats:
- Grizzlies: 19-47, 1-8 from deep, 46 points, 9 assists, 4 turnovers
- Trail Blazers: 15-37, 3-12 from deep, 39 points, 3 assists, 7 turnovers
- Lillard: 5-9, 0-2 from deep, 13 points
- Aldridge: 2-8, 4 points, 4 boards, 1 block
- McCollum: 4-6, 1-2 from deep, 11 points
The Trail Blazers kicked off the second half like they started the game: flat, with nothing working. Memphis built a 13-point 52-39 to force the Portland timeout. Shortly after, Aldridge got wrapped around the neck by Randolph but didn’t take the bait to retaliate; the refs reviewed it to call a flagrant, and Aldridge hit both and got the ball back. Then Leonard hit a three to complete the 5-point play, 54-46 Memphis. McCollum hit a three as well, and it was 54-49. With yet another McCollum three a littledown the road, it was 58-54. Then another McCollum three on the break, 58-57. Aldridge hit a free throw to tie it before McCollum hit ANOTHER three, and we were firmly in all-caps mode.
At one point in the third, the Trail Blazers outscored the Grizzlies 22-6 from the time McCollum and Leonard came into the game. Now those are good subs!
The Grizzlies predictably struck back, regaining a 62-61 lead. Things got a little chippier, as Randolph was called for an offensive fouled for pushing Aldridge. Then a double technical was called on Randolph and Leonard as Aldridge pushed Leonard for seemingly no reason. After looking at the tape,the technical on Leonard was rescinded. It was 68-66 Memphis after three quarters. McCollum had already broken his career-high in points (27), and tied a Trail Blazers playoff franchise record with four 3-pointers in a quarter (Rudy Fernandez, Terry Porter, Wesley Matthews).
1st through 3rd quarter stats:
- Grizzlies: 28-67, 1-11 from deep, 68 points, 13 assists, 10 turnovers
- Trail Blazers: 24-56, 8-20 from deep, 66 points, 8 assists, 11 turnovers
- McCollum: 10-13, 5-7 from deep, 27 points
- Lillard: 5-13, 0-4 from deep, 14 points
- Aldridge: 4-13, 11 points
With possibly sub-12 minutes left in their season, the Trail Blazers tied it at 72 as Robin Lopez made what felt like his first appearance of the series by scoring, then getting fouled and hitting both free throws on the next possession. Portland kept fighting, and Aldridge turned to the middle (on Kosta Koufos, as Randolph, with his flagrant and technical foul, was presumably too volatile) and got the and-1.
The Trail Blazers got stops, but couldn’t cash it on the other end, and it was 76-75 Memphis with six minutes to go.
Then… Memphis hit. And hit again. And again. And again. Portland was flummoxed, unable to rely on their defense or offense. As Lillard jacked up an ill-fated three, the Grizzlies went ahead 85-75, and the game felt like it had slipped. It had.
Despite a flurry of scoring by both teams, and despite the Trail Blazers closing the gap somewhat, it was too little, too late for how much they had given up in such a short amount of time. The Trail Blazers fell, their season with them, and the Grizzlies advanced to face the Golden State Warriors in the second round.
Players
C.J. McCollum was told by Grizzlies Head Coach Dave Joerger that this game was McCollum’s coming out party, and boy, was it ever. A career-high 33 points on 12-20 shooting, 7-11 from deep, and an unstoppable third quarter that makes you have all sorts of irrational thoughts about how good he can be next year. Here’s hoping.
Damian Lillard did a lot early on. Less later on. He finished with 22 on 8-19 shooting, 1-8 from deep, six boards, and six turnovers, but he really tried to get to the rim, regardless of contact. In a playoff game, that’s saying a lot, because it’s rough in there; especially for guards.
LaMarcus Aldridge did very little all game. While all of the attention will be on Aldridge this summer, it wasn’t during this series. His 14 points and nine rebounds would have been an sub-par game even in his early days. He fouled out of the game in the final minutes.
Meyers Leonard wasn’t a showstopper, but he was 3-5 from range for his nine points and four boards. His development, along with that of McCollum, are some of the brighter spots from this unfortunate series. Leonard, like Aldridge, fouled out in the final minutes.
Nicolas Batum was 2-12, 1-7 from deep for 6-10-7. Trail Blazers fans will be curious as to which version of Batum they get next year.
Arron Afflalo played just 14 minutes as McCollum took charge of the game.
Notes
- McCollum’s 33 points were the most by any Trail Blazers reserve in the playoffs in franchise history.
- McCollum’s seven threes were the most in a playoff game by any Trail Blazer in franchise history.
- Leonard finished the series 10-13 from deep (76.9%).
- Tim Frazier made his NBA playoffs debut as teammates fouled out, playing 25 seconds.
- The Trail Blazers were out-rebounded on the offensive glass 15-5.