The Blazers earned them, but after losing the series opener, the Lakers are officially moving into the second round after four straight wins. The Blazers stayed up all night without Damien Lillard, but eventually, the Lakers pulled away late in the fourth quarter. At the end of 20-7, Portland got 131-122, and a combination of LeBron James-Anthony Davis to get points and on the way to victory. The Lakers will now wait for the winner between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder to decide who will be their second-round opponent.
The Blazers, meanwhile, made a brave attempt, but their injuries were ultimately disastrous that could have been a promising season. Without Lillard, Trevor Ariza, Rodney Hood and Zach Collins, they managed to sweat the No. 1 seed. It doesn’t mean much in the record book, but it’s an encouraging sign for next season. If these teams meet in the 2021 playoffs, expect a much closer series if Blazer can get full strength.
Like kobe and vegetables again
The styles are different. H. Anthony Davis scored more 3-pointers in Game 5 alone than Vegeta in his entire career. Kobe Bryant was not in the habit of posting playoff triple-doubles. LeBron averaged one for the series. But the NBA mostly lacks the traditional combination of superstar big and superstar ball-handlers who have competed for the championship together in recent years. LeBron Dwin won with the guards in Wade and Kiri Irving. Warriors won with shooting. But no team has ever come closer to the Lakers formula than the turn of the century.
James and Davis scored 79 points on 28-of-3 shooting in Game 5. They reached the basket as desired and, in turn, easily knocked off their jumpers. His pick and roll is almost impossible to save with just two players. It may have come from Danny Green instead of LeBron, but we got a symbolic end to this. The Kobe-Shaak Lakers defeated the Blazers on their way to their first championship 20 years ago and buried them with an all-op from Bryant to Shaak. Caper tonight? Davis to Eli-opp.
These Lakers, to an extent, were created in the image of Kobe and Shaak. That vision has been fruitful in many games of the past. Both Laker Stars are firing on all cylinders going into the second round. While those two are playing this well together, the Lakers are practically unbeatable.
The switch cannot keep flipping
The Lakers couldn’t hide their issues with the Bubble exactly, and the last few days have been especially difficult for them as they were one of the teams leaning to leave Orlando after the shooting of Jacob Blake. But the series was probably supposed to be a sweep, yet the Lakers lost Game 1. They were then hit on the silver plate with the news that Lillard would lose Game 5, and they gave up their highest point of the series. His defensive efforts were completely submerged for most of the night.
Blazers weren’t so good at punishing them for that, but rockets are. The Lakers can no longer offer ease in games or series. They can’t afford to waste minutes with the wrong lineups and they can’t lose part of their energy. The Lakers have been rising from the top down since the bubbles came in and they can no longer afford it. Champions bring it every night. The Lakers have to do the rest of the way.
Portland’s organizational competence will shine again
Portland can be folded before reaching Landlando. Instead they went 7-2 to reach the postseason. They could have been happier if they had gotten there. They then won 1 game in the series. They can fold when they lose Lillard. Instead they pushed the Lakers to the edge in Game 5. Aside from CJ McCullum, his leading scorers were players who signed for P the Minor (Carmelo Anthony), who was elected to the second round in his second season (Gary Trent Jr.) and a center that returned from a broken leg just a month ago (Joseph). Nurik).
Portland never had a championship-caliber talent during this race with Lillard, but they do have a championship-caliber organization in every other way. The culture built by Lillard could pass even without her on the floor for a closeout game. They still have a lot of roster questions to answer this se fee off, but as long as Lillard is in his place, the Blazers will be a threat in the Western Conference.
