x
Breaking News
More () »

Clippers shutting down Lillard key to series

    

    

 LOS ANGELES -- Heading into the opening round of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers knew the key to stopping the Portland Trail Blazers would be to shut down their primary offensive weapons, backcourt mates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

      Mission accomplished.

    The Clippers held the pair to a combined 30.8% shooting from the floor in winning the first two games of the best-of-seven series. Lillard was glaringly ineffective in Game 2 Wednesday at Staples Center in the Clippers 102-81 victory. A 41.9% shooter from the floor in the regular season, Lillard connected on six of 22 shots (27.3%), including zero for six from beyond the arc.

 

     Yet his team’s effort didn’t bring a smile to the face of Clippers coach Doc Rivers.

      “I wasn’t happy, defensively. Honestly,” said Rivers. “I was happy in Game 1 (a 115-95 L.A. victory). I was not happy [Wednesday]. I thought we had a lot of mistakes.”

      Clippers guard Chris Paul, who spent much of the night in Lillard’s face, wasn’t pleased with his own effort.

      “I could have done a better job,” Paul said, “and not just given him all the backdoor layups and dunks.”

    It is accurate to say that, along with the credit that should go to the Clippers for Wednesday night’s result, there is some blame that must go to the Trail Blazers who missed on open look after open look, their shots bouncing off the rim producing as many clangs as a San Francisco trolley.

     “Yeah,” agreed Lillard, “especially at the start of the game, I got a lot of good looks. I missed a wide-open, point-blank layup. When you get those looks, you’ve got to knock them down. Especially when you know the type of attention you’re going to get in a playoff series like this one where they’re trapping and sending two [defenders at him], loading up against myself and CJ.”

     There’s an old saying in the NBA that a playoff series doesn’t really start until the road team wins a game. The Clippers will have a chance to do that on Saturday at Portland’s Moda Center, a victory giving them a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 chokehold on the series. Lillard insists that won’t happen.

     “I don’t see why we should not have confidence,” he said. “We’re not the first team to lose the first two on the road. They took care of their home court and now we’re going to have the same opportunity.”

 

       Clippers forward Blake Griffin said overconfidence won’t be a problem for his team as it heads north. How could it be with the bitter memory of last season’s disastrous playoff finish still front and center in their collective minds.

     “Just look at what happened last year,” he said.

    Up three games to one in their second-round series against the Houston Rockets, the Clippers lost three straight, including a Game 6 collapse after leading by 19 points at home late in the third quarter.

     “You can’t overestimate your team,” said Griffin, “or think that you’re already done with the series before you are.”

 

Before You Leave, Check This Out