Blazers: Game Two Report Card

Grades and analysis from the Trail Blazers 102-81 Game two loss at the hands of the LA Clippers

Starters

Damian Lillard: 17 points/3 assists/6 rebounds

Coming into the series, most analysts didn’t give the Trail Blazers any chance of upsetting the Clippers. Those who did pick Portland were depending on an outburst from star point guard Damian Lillard. Well, that hasn’t happened quite yet, and the team now finds themselves in a deep whole as they head back to Portland. While no one will be harder on Lillard’s performance than Damian himself, it doesn’t take away the fact that he was just plain awful in stretches of last night’s game. He finished with just 17 points on 6-22 shooting and added a measly three assists. Typically a poor shooting night translates to more facilitation of the ball, but even that wasn’t working. If Portland is going to climb their way back into this series, it begins and ends with Lillard breaking out of this funk. Frankly, no one will remember his MVP-caliber season if he fizzles out in the playoffs. Grade: C+

CJ McCollum: 16 points/5 assists/3 rebounds

Much like Lillard, McCollum struggled to find any sort of rhythm against the Clippers stifling defense. He did better than his disaster of a game on Sunday (8 points), but it still wasn’t enough to keep the Trail Blazers in the game for an extended amount of time. While some of his offensive struggles can be attributed to the energy he had to expend on JJ Redick, (who logs more miles on one possession than anyone I’ve eve seen) CJ wasn’t exactly shutting him down. Redick finished with 17 points, while McCollum finished a team low -25 plus/minus. Let’s hope Moda Center can serve as an energy source…Grade: B-

Al-Farouq Aminu: 9 points/3 assists/10 rebounds

More from Blazers News

Portland desperately needed Aminu to step up on offense with Lillard and McCollum caged up, but it wasn’t in the cards for the Portland forward. He made just one of his whopping seven 3PT attempts and shot only 31% from the field. Beyond that though, he was very active on defense, collecting two steals and ten total rebounds. It’s also worth noting that Aminu was the only Trail Blazer to finish the game with a positive plus/minus, so his efforts certainly didn’t go without somewhat of a favorable result. The team needs to get more “

Boston Celtics Aminu

” if they want to have any chance at winning the series.

Grade: B

Maurice Harkless: 12 points/7 rebounds/1 steal

Harkless was one of only a few Trail Blazers who found success against the Clippers, going 2-4 from the 3PT line in a season high 34 minutes. No player seemed to have more energy than Harkless did, which is displayed through his stellar rebounding numbers. He finished with seven total rebounds, but an impressive five of them were offensive (some of which featured tip in baskets). If Portland loses this series it certainly won’t be Harkless’ fault, as the young stud has done more than his fair share to will this team to victory. Grade: A-

Mason Plumlee: 17 points/10 rebounds/7 assists

While his performance will be lost in the noise of the blowout loss, Plumlee put together his best game of his season last night. He led the Trail Blazers in all three major categories. At times he seemed to be the only one on the team keeping Portland from completely imploding. His 17 points came on just five baskets, which means he made a lot of progress from the free throw line. Simply put, Plumlee was the Trail Blazers’ best guard, forward, and center in what was unfortunately a losing effort. Grade: A+

Sixth Man of the Game

Nobody: 10 total bench points

Next: More From Rip City Project

The bench was supposed to be Portland’s edge in this series. They’re two games in now and it appears that they’re completely out matched. In last night’s loss no one showed up for Portland. Crabbe has zero points, Henderson had four, Davis has two, and Kaman had four. That adds up to a meager 10 bench points. That’s not going to get it done against a seasoned LAC crew. Want to know how bad it was? Austin Rivers nearly outscored Portland’s entire bench by himself. But it gets worse, Cole Aldrich also nearly outscored Portland’s entire bench by himself…Cole Aldrich. I’ll let that sit for a bit. Grade: F

Trail Blazers Report Card: Game Two

By Perry Waggoner | Apr 21, 2016

Grades and analysis from the Trail Blazers 102-81 Game two loss at the hands of the LA Clippers