While the Blazers held a 3-1 lead in the series, Game 5 was a golden opportunity – and potentially their best chance – to close out the series against the Thunder. But with just over seven minutes remaining in Game 5, the Trail Blazers faced a 15-point deficit. The series seemed destined to head back to Oklahoma City for a Game 6, where the Thunder’s home crowd would likely propel Russell Westbrook and Paul George to victory, forcing a Game 7.
Damian Lillard had no such plans of returning to Oklahoma City. He said the night before Game 5 “I’m getting rid of these motherfuckers tomorrow”. It became evident early on that Lillard aimed to fulfill his strong words as he poured in 34 points in the first half alone and had 42 entering the fourth quarter.
Facing a 15-point deficit, Lillard would need to dig even deeper to pull this game out. Portland immediately went on a 6-0 run – all three baskets assisted by Lillard – to cut the deficit to single digits. The Blazers rallied all the way back and trailed by only two points with 39 seconds to go.
Lillard sprinted down the court for a quick layup, tying the game and capitalizing on the two-for-one opportunity. Westbrook’s missed layup set up Lillard with a potential game winning (and series clinching) shot. There are no words for the events that transpired next.
Lillard let the clock run all the way down before unleashing a cold-blooded, 37-foot stepback in the face of Defensive Player of the Year candidate Paul George. He drilled the dagger, ending the game, the series and the question of what was the most bad-ass reaction to a game-winning play I’ve ever seen. Lillard first reaction after the game winning shot was not to celebrate, nor to turn towards his teammates or the crowd. Instead, he instinctively waved good bye directly at the Thunder bench, and more specifically at Westbrook. Lillard ended Oklahoma City’s season in dramatic fashion and sent his Blazers to the second round for the first time since 2016.
Portland now faces 2-seed Denver in the Western Conference semifinals. The two teams lucked out avoiding both the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, setting up a premier opportunity for a Conference Finals run. As the higher seed, Denver has home court advantage and is favored to win the series. To that I say: why?
Sure, Denver had a better record than Portland this year and has won the season series 3-1 in each of the past two seasons.
Sure, Denver is one of the league’s deepest teams, while Portland will be without center Jusuf Nurkic.
Sure, Nikola Jokic established himself an near MVP-caliber player this season and continued his stellar play into the playoffs.
None of that matters to me.
Portland just eviscerated a team with two top-15 players (at worst), while Denver struggled to beat a Spurs team that still relies on mid-range jump shots. Portland received major contributions from a number of role players (Enes Kanter, Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu all played well), while Denver relied heavily on Jokic and Jamal Murray (who was atrocious for 11 of the first 12 quarters of the series).
Lillard and CJ McCollum will have their way with Murray and Gary Harris. Kanter, if he’s healthy, should be able to use his strength to dominate Jokic in the post as well. Of course, these same match-ups favor Denver on the opposing end where Lillard and McCollum are average defenders and Kanter is infamously horrendous.
There are two things we’ve learned from these playoffs: 1) depth isn’t as important – you only need seven or eight reliable players; 2) teams need two players who can create offense on their own. For example, Utah and Indiana lacked a secondary offensive creator, while Brooklyn and Los Angeles’ regular season depth proved insufficient. Portland checks both of these boxes, while Denver is questionable.
This series comes down to trust. I trust Lillard will show up every single game. I cannot say the same of Murray. If Murray fails to bring his A-game, Jokic cannot do everything. In fact, Jokic posted a 43 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists in a Game 6 loss to the Spurs. Furthermore, I’m not sure that I trust Jokic’s conditioning to allow him to play at his best at this point in the season.
There is one thought that I keep coming back to – Lillard took down Westbrook (one of the most confident players in the game) by sheer will power and death stares. Am I supposed to believe that Murray is going to rise to the challenge against Lillard when Westbrook folded like the Raptors against LeBron?
Lillard has come into his own in these playoffs. Rather than collapsing after last postseason’s dismantling at the hands of Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis, Lillard matured into a stronger, more resilient player and leader. He feels no pressure to succeed, he’s just playing ball.
Portland has all the confidence in the world and with Lillard playing at the peak of his powers, I can’t see any way Denver wins this series. The Trail Blazers should win this series in five or six games. (So when Denver inevitably wins the series in 5 games, @ me Old Takes Exposed.) Lillard won the first round of the playoffs, now it’s time for round two. It’s Dame’s time.
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