Is this the end of Trail Blazers' run in the 2019 NBA Playoffs or do they still have a chance?
"I'm trying Jennifer", tweeted Portland shooting guard CJ McCollum during last offseason when a fan, Jennifer, dared him to win a playoff game. The fan's tweet was in response to CJ expressing frustration over Golden State's signing of free agent center DeMarcus Cousins.
The Trail Blazers organization and it's star players received flak last season and rightfully so. Portland hadn't won a single playoff series for the third consecutive season and had just got swept by a Pelicans team led by Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday.
Despite finishing the season as the third-seed in a tough Western Conference, the Trail Blazers underwhelmed and got bounced out of the playoffs in the first round. Most of the criticism was shouldered by star guard Damian Lillard, who had an incredible regular season worthy of an All-NBA First Team Honor, but performed poorly in the playoffs.
But,once again, from the start of 2018-19 NBA regular season, the Trail Blazers looked like a team that could create some noise come playoff time. Analysts were still skeptical and believed that a team led by Lillard and McCollum would never be championship caliber. Some felt that the Trail Blazers needed a third star player, while the others felt that it was their starting center Jusuf Nurkic, aka the Bosnian beast, who needed to step up his game in order for the Trail Blazers to become true contenders.
During their regular-season run, Blazers had their fair share of ups and downs -- just like any other team not named Golden State and Milwaukee. They still ended up as the third seed in a tough Western Conference, thanks to a phenomenal 8-2 run in the last 10 games of the regular season. But, as fate would have it, starting center Jusuf Nurkic suffered a gruesome season-ending compound fracture on his left leg.
For the playoffs, the third-seeded Trail Blazers were to meet the sixth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in a highly-anticipated first-round matchup between Lillard and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder, led by Westbrook and Paul George, had an underwhelming finish to their regular season following a record run before the All-Star game.
Yet, the Thunder were favored to win the series since they had swept the Trail Blazers in the regular season. It was a highly-competitive series full of intensity, scraps and brawls. The series was made more intense due to the teams' obvious rivalry.
The starting back-court of Lillard and McCollum thoroughly outplayed Westbrook and George to take a 3-1 lead in the first four games, much to the surprise of many. In Game 5 at Moda Center, Thunder led for most of the game -- and if not for Lillard having an all-time playoff outing -- they would have won the game convincingly.
In the fourth quarter, the role players stepped up for the Blazers and the Thunder could not recover. In the end, Lillard capped off his performance with one of the greatest game-winners in recent playoff history. He finished the game with the absurd statline of 50 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds, connecting on an incredible 10 three-pointers.
In the second round, the Blazers faced a resilient Denver Nuggets team led by their superstar center Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets had a tough first-round outing against the San Antonio Spurs, who took them to Game 7.
Right from the start of the series, there was no clear-cut indication who would win. The series again went to the decider Game 7 which the Trail Blazers won behind an outstanding performance and clutch-shooting from McCollum, who finished the game with 37 points (17-29 FGM) and 9 rebounds in 45 minutes.
The Blazers would reach their first conference finals since 2000, and would face two-time defending NBA champions the Golden State Warriors.
Not many people expected the Blazers to reach this far into the playoffs except for Charles Barkley. Coming into this series, the Warriors lost Cousins to a quad injury and Kevin Durant to a calf strain in the first and second rounds, respectively.
Even so, the Warriors still lead the Blazers 2-0 after two games. Game 1 was a convincing victory as the splash brothers dominated the Trail Blazers. Steph Curry alone had as many points as Lillard and McCollum combined (36 points). The two also turned the ball over 10 times.
In Game 2, at Oracle Arena, the Blazers came out firing on all cylinders as they put together an incredible first half, leading by 17 points at half time. However, with the combined efforts of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors weathered the storm and made a comeback in the third quarter. As the game went to the final possession, the Warriors led by three points with 12.3 seconds left on the clock.
As Lillard got the ball, Warriors Guard Andre Iguodala made an incredible play as he stripped the ball off Lillard, resulting in a Warriors win.
Their championship hopes look incredibly bleak now. For Blazers to come back and win the series, their role players have to step up along with Lillard and McCollum. For Golden State, having Kevin Durant in the lineup is more of a luxury than necessity and the latest update is that Durant is out for Games 3 and 4.
But do Trail Blazers have enough left in the tank to defend the Warriors, especially with Kanter as their starting center, who could be a defensive liability. Or do they start Myers Leonard or the more athletic Zach Collins. They could also give Evan Turner a shot into the starting lineup, in place of Al Farouq Aminu, since it would ease Lillard's burden of ball-handling.
The next two games of the series shift to the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Expect the crowd to come out in full strength and expect the players to be motivated and ready to go.