Clippers Narrowly Thwart Damian Lillard’s Near-Herculean Comeback

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Saturday, November 08, 2014

Andrew R Tonry, GoLocalPDX Contributor

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THAT WAS: The Clippers 'D' clamping down. Portland came out bombing, scoring 38 points in the first quarter. In the second half, though, the sleepwalking Clippers' defense awoke. The Clippers held the Blazers to 17 points in the third quarter and 40 in the second half.

TURNING POINT: Tied entering the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on a 11-2 run. The Blazers appeared done for. But then...

HERCULEAN COMEBACK EFFORT: Damian Lillard turned a blowout in a nail-biter. Down nine points with 3:23 remaining, Lillard put Blazers on his back. With fearless aplomb he scored the Blazers' last 11 points, cutting the deficit to just two before  a pair of boneheaded plays--a bad, heat check shot from Lillard and a horrible, ill-advised, intentional foul from LaMarcus Aldridge--sealed the defeat.

MVP: JJ Redick. The Clippers' sharp-shooting guard, who'd been slumping until Saturday, finished with a game-high 30 points, making 6-of-8 from beyond the arc and 11-of-13 overall.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE WATCH: For the second straight game Nicolas Batum flirted with a triple-double. Saturday he filled the box score with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

WORTH NOTING: Robin Lopez had a phenomenal first half. At the break he'd piled up 17 points, making six shots without a miss.

KILLER TWEETS:

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