BLAZERS GRADED: Clippers 100, Portland 94
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The clock was about to strike "Lillard-time."
Or so it seemed.
Instead, over the final five minutes, the Clippers stifled the Trail Blazers, outscoring Portland 15-6. While Los Angeles continually got to the line, the Blazers made just two-of-their-last-10 attempts from the field.
Credit goes to the Clippers defense, who switched DeAndre Jordan on to LaMarcus Aldridge for the final period. Still, Aldridge and the Blazers did not force the issue. They shied away from the hot hand.Through three quarters, Aldridge piled up a whopping 35 points. In the fourth, he scored just two more, making one shot and taking only three.
For the first three quarters, though, Aldridge had been utterly unstoppable. He scored with ease, inside and out, continually backing down and making a fool of Blake Griffin. Entering the fourth, Aldridge was responsible for nearly half of Portland's points.
The Blazers needed them all, as they were atrocious from behind the arc. Portland finished a miserable 6-of-26 from distance.
And while they can't really be faulted for relying on Lillard--the league's leading fourth quarter scorer--to carry them home, the Blazers might've been better served Wednesday by continuing to ride the hot hand of Aldridge.
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NICOLAS BATUM: F
While Batum's offense has been a mess all season, it was truly in the toilet Wednesday. He did not make a shot from the field and, due to a crisis of confidence, passed up others. On one possession he passed up an open three that led to a 24-second shot-clock violation. That was likely due to a sequence earlier that was about as bad of a minute of basketball you can have. Batum air-balled a mid-range jumper, followed that with an air-balled three, and on the next possession was stripped by Chris Paul.
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE: A-
Aldridge, who finished with a monstrous 37 points and 12 rebounds gets the 'minus' because he only took three shots in the fourth quarter (of which he made one). On a night where he was hot and hitting from all over the floor, Aldridge needed to assert himself and fight in the fourth. He didn't.
CHRIS KAMAN: B+
Wednesday was Kaman's best start of the season, and it came against a big, atheletic front line in DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. Kaman finished with 15 points (on 7-of-11 shooting) and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes.
WESLEY MATTHEWS: C-
Tough game for Matthews, who couldn't find his shot, couldn't slow Jamal Crawford, and took a lot of physical punishment in the waining moments, including a shot in the sternum from Chris Paul and a wicked fall onto his back into the row of photographers underneath the basket.
DAMIAN LILLARD: C+
Of Lillard's 15 points, 13 came in the fourth quarter. And since it wasn't enough to get the Blazers the victory, it was too little, too late. Portland could've used him early.
MEYERS LEONARD: B+
Yet another strong game from Leonard, who notched his second double-double of the season (and third of his career). Leonard, who finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, has reached double figure scoring in four-of-his-last-five games. He also had a strange, delightful sequence playing the two-man game with Chris Kaman that resulted in this dunk:
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