Tuesday, August 18 – 6pm PT
Blazers injuries: Rodney Hood (out), Trevor Ariza (out), Caleb Swanigan (out), Zach Collins (out), Nassir Little (out)
Lakers injuries: Rajon Rondo (doubtful), Avery Bradley (excluded)
How can you watch TV? NBCSNW, TNT (or check out Fubo for your streaming needs)
Radio: 620 AM
SBN Affiliate: Silver screen and roll
The Portland Trail Blazers have run the gaustlet and come out alive, capturing their seventh consecutive playoff appearance. After finishing eighth in the West after the Seeding Games, they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the Play-In matchup with a score of 126-122. Has reward? A best-of-seven series against LeBron James and the top-seeded Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers, for their part, have been slouched by the Seeding Games. After starting the Bubble with a 103-101 win over cross-stadium rival the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers finished with a record of 3-5 and many questions hung over their heads. You would be foolish to think that the Lakers are there just for the taking, but it seems likely that the Lakers will need their game if they want to play in the next round.
What to see
- Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr.. Call of Captain Ob evident on line O. Gallons of ink have been spent writing about how good Damian Lillard has been. Let’s just stick to one point. Lillard has shown an unusual ability to constantly find ways to get better. Right now, the thing that Lillard is doing is much better than he has ever done in his career with kicks and lightning. In the past, we’ve seen teams send two defenders to Damian, force the ball out of his hands and get him out of his game. In the Bubble, teams have tried this strategy at unusual rates. For the first time in his career, Lillard has been consistently up to the task. Not only has he avoided turnover, and despite the increased attention stays close to his seasonal average turnover, but he finds several and effective ways to break the lightning. “Logo Lillard” is one option when teams are a little slow to pick him up, while another option he has used effectively blows through the slower defender before he knows what has hit him, essentially using one defender to to choose the other. The Blazers also had success with Dame playing the ball, using various plans to get the ball to bounce him free. Lillard’s assists have also increased, hitting double figures four times in nine games. Not bad for a man with a living average of 6.5 per game.
- Throw for free. The Blazers shot 84.2% in the Bubble, second best among participating teams. The Lakers shot 72.4%, fourth worst. Portland shot a higher percentage of the strip than their opponents in 8 of 9 games in Orlando so far, the only exception being in the loss to the Clippers. If you look at the goals, Portland would probably now complete excitement talks if they did not come up with the freebies. Free throws can certainly be an enormous factor for the Blazers, but only if they can get on the line on a similar clip as the Lakers. This aspect could be a problem. So far in the Bubble, the Lakers have shot 4.2 more free throws per game than the Blazers.
- Make your shoes open. The Blazers averaged in the Bubble when they hit the open box, shooting 44.7% from the field and 41.4% from deep when the closest defender is at least six feet away. In contrast, the Lakers have been terrible, shooting only 36.2% from the field and 32.4% from three when wide open. If this trend continues, the Lakers could be in deep trouble, pun intended. The Blazers feel they can shoot better than they have so far in the Bubble, while the Lakers have no choice if they want to win. The Blazers need to get a lot of open looks because of the gravity of Damian Lillard, while the Lakers need to get a lot of open looks because, well, they play the Blazers. If Portland can hit their open shots at a significantly better rate than Los Angeles beats them, then it should be a good night for the boys from Rose City.
What they say
Lionel Hollins is not in the Bubble due to health concerns, but that does not mean he is not doing his job, reports Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times:
Last month, the NBA ruled that Hollins, one of Vogel’s top assistants, was not allowed to travel to Orlando for health reasons. So for the past five weeks, Hollins has been coaching over texts and video conferencing. His days, not full of going to and from practice, are instead busy coaching his son, negotiating with his grandson and watching movies at the kitchen table.
This is a very important season for Anthony Davis, and Christian Rivas of Silver Screen and Roll says he’s ready to step down:
This season, Davis has helped the Los Angeles Lakers climb back to the top of the Western Conference for the first time in a decade and the expectations for both him and the team are as high as they have ever been. Davis knows this year will be different than any other time he has been in the playoffs, and he is looking forward to the challenge.
Let’s end with Charles Curtis from USA Today’s For the Win. He says the Blazers will win the series. Read the article to find out how:
But after he almost arrived by saying that the Los Angeles Lakers should be afraid of the Blazers, let’s go there: the Blazers will defeat the Lakers in their first-round series.
