No. 1: Damian Lillard, 1; Half-court traps, 1
The distance between Orlando, FL and New Orleans, LO is about 650 miles, give-or-take. For Damian Lillard, it seemed it may as well have been a million miles away. The defining chapter of his storied career came in how he turned the nadir of his career — the 2018 Pelicans-Blazers series — into the success we’ve witnessed since then.
Like a recurring dream, the half-court traps the New Orleans Pelicans used in that series made a cameo, and they nearly ended the Blazers’ season. Damian Lillard did Damian Lillard things in the first half, dropping in 17 points and 7 assists as a perfect complement to CJ McCollum. But Jacque Vaughn elected to test fate, and see if the Blazers could win the biggest game of the season without their star doing the heavy lifting.
And of all the ways to watch the season slide down the drain, would any scenario have been as agonizing?
The Blazers went without a field goal in the heart of the third quarter, from 8:42 to the 4:06 mark, in large part because they didn’t allow Damian Lillard to take a shot. Vaughn’s defensive gameplan carried over offensively, too, allowing them to spark a 23-6 run in the third quarter. The philosophy: it didn’t matter if Lillard was out there with CJ McCollum or Michael Jordan. Set the ropes at halfcourt, and don’t let him pass that line without … well passing.
Nets game plan for guarding Dame. 😂 pic.twitter.com/KDNKkAtYce
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) August 14, 2020
Difficult as it was to remember, this was still a regular season game. So, while it won’t get the celebration to that of Spider-Man overcoming The Green Goblin or even Craig vs. Deebo, it was a welcoming sight to see Lillard take it straight to the coaching scheme that once ended his season and put his legacy on the rocks. He recognized that his shot selection would need to be much more decisive. And in great irony, he actually scored more in the second half than the first. Here’s what he said about his thought process:
"“I was trying to make the right play. We were getting great looks, we just weren’t able to capitalize. Guys were shooting the ball with confidence, and it just wasn’t going in. And (the Nets) were coming down and scoring. I was just thinking like, ‘Should I just keep making the right plays, or is it time for me to start searching for a shot or a look?’ And I just didn’t want to be too passive, so when I was bringing the ball up, I was like ‘as soon as I see an opportunity I’m just gone raise up.’”"
That perspicacity bodes well for the future, considering the likelihood that more teams are likely to try that strategy in the future. It both no longer comes as a surprise, and it helps that Lillard has the shot makers around him to succeed in those 4-on-3 situations where he’s trapped at half court.
I know very little of what New Orleans voodoo and culture entails. But if I were a fortune teller, I’d predict that we haven’t quite seen the last of these traps. But if it’s a heavyweight fight, Lillard definitely just evened the score up a bit.