Portland Trail Blazers maintain control over the Los Angeles Clippers

While the game was ultimately tight throughout, the Portland Trail Blazers remained in control over the Los Angeles Clippers. They fought for their ninth win on the season in twelve games.

The Portland Trail Blazers took care of business in the Moda Center, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers, 116-105. Although it’ll go down as a double-digit win, the entire middle section of this game remained anyone’s. However, Portland ultimately maintained control of the contest and walked out of their home court with the W.

The good guys came out and blitzed the Clippers in the first quarter, winning it 37-28. Portland was carried by both the consistent play of their three stars, all finishing the period with eight points, and free throws.

The Blazers hit 14 of 15 free throws in the first quarter. They dominated from the charity stripe. In fact, the first three points of the game came off CJ McCollum free throws.

They didn’t keep this pace, and their lead at the outset slowly dwindled as the free throws slowed. But there are plenty of people – including Damian Lillard – that would tell you the Blazers opportunities were decreasing because they weren’t being aggressive…

There were plenty of calls from fans to “#FixTheRefs” as several high-contact plays resulted in no-calls. But even the angriest of fans’ thumbs can’t do anything to affect the score.

And they could’ve done more to secure this lead had they taken smarter shots. Too often were shots forced in the midrange or contested from beyond the arc.

Even while comfortably winning the rebounding battle throughout the game (they won it by 12 at the end), the Clippers hung around within 4-8 points for much of the game. This was much to do with the Blazers inability to hit shots.

At the end of the third quarter, they were shooting 39.7 percent (29/73) while the Clippers enjoyed 47.3 percent shooting (32-67).

The Blazers poor shooting was also buoyed by their solid defense tonight. The club used their length to disrupt the Clippers’ passing lanes, leading to a few deflections and steals. The team also recorded eight blocks, including three from Nurkic.

Oh, and star-like performances from the backcourt didn’t hurt either. Damian Lillard nabbed 25 points, four assists, and four rebounds, while CJ McCollum got 23, two, and seven. Both Dame and CJ’s ability to come up big when the team looks a stagnant will be huge to winning frustrating, grind-it-out games like this one tonight.

In the fourth quarter, the Blazers finally rediscovered some separation. The team got more opportunities at the foul line again; they were pushing the tempo and being aggressive on offense. Their passes were crisper and their shots were finding the net more often. They seemed to be playing with more trust in each other:

And the stars popped even more:

No doubt, this is a win that displays the Blazers resilience and ability to execute down the stretch of a game. They did not allow the closeness of the match, or their poor shooting deter them from staying in control on the glass and protecting the ball, limiting their turnovers to only six this game. Down the stretch, they relied on each other and Dame and CJ to put the less talented team away.

Looking ahead, the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Boston Celtics on Sunday, November 11 at 6:00 P.S.T. Let’s see if they can extend this winning streak.