Blazers versus Grizzlies
The 2014-2015 playoffs ended the LaMarcus Aldridge era in Portland. A crushing defeat in the first round due to injuries sent four of the Blazers starters elsewhere, leaving Damian Lillard on his own.
In those brief five games, Lillard could not knock down a three-pointer to save his life – he shot a cumulative 5/31 from behind the line. But this wasn’t only the case for him.
Besides CJ McCollum, who kickstarted his career in this postseason, no Blazer could hit the bottom of the net.
Aldridge, who shot 46.6% from the field that season, made 33.0% of his attempts. Nicolas Batum made 40% of his shots in the regular season but shot 34.3% against the Grizzlies. Finally, Arron Afflalo (remember him?) made 16.7% of his attempts, way down from 42.4% during the season.
Portland simply didn’t have the energy this playoff series after losing Wesley Matthews to a torn achilles – they sensed the major change approaching.
Lillard did his best, leading the team in points per game even without hitting more than one three per game.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ defense went on to limit Steph Curry to 24.5 points per game on 42.1% shooting the following round. It was his lowest scoring output of any playoff series that year.