If you love a ton of score, you would love this game!
The Portland Trail Blazers fielded against the Los Angeles Clippers who decided to rest their MVP Saturday morning.
The Clippers initially listed Patrick Beverley (left calf; trunk) and Montrezl Harrell (not with the team) as out for Saturday’s game. LA added Kawhi Leonard then added to the list of injuries Saturday morning with increasing knee linearity and load management. For the Blazers, Portland was without Hassan Whiteside (penalty from the hip).
Despite an unusually early 1:00 pm The Orlando tip-off, the Blazers stepped out after a quick start. Portland jumped out to a 15-8 lead through their ball movement and game movement. The two starting 7-footers from Portland, Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins, got things rolling from deep when both bigs hit from long range in the first quarter.
Lou Williams immediately gave the Clippers offense off the bench. In his first seven minutes, he led all the Clippers to the end of the first 12 minutes with 12 points.
At the end of the first quarter, the Blazers took a 37-34 lead.
With Saturday’s game beginning back-to-back for Portland, Blazers head coach Terry Stotts extended his rotation and expired this early. For the first time since the NBA reboot, Damian Lillard was the only starter on the floor near the end of the first quarter. Nine Blazers saw important minutes in this one and made great contributions, especially early on.
Gary Trent Jr. hit from deep and then throw it up for Simons to throw it down to a Wenyen steal 👀
What else do you want from this second unit?!?
– Jamie Hudson (@JamieHudsonNBCS) August 8, 2020
In Saturday’s high-scoring game, the Blazers took a 75-69 lead at half-time.
Paul George led the charge at both ends for LA George finished with 21 points on 8-of-16 shots, despite the Blazers sending two players to him. He also had two steals a day.
With both teams exchanging buckets in the third, the Clippers kept striking distance. LA was 96-95 down in the final period.
FINAL BOX SCORE: KLIPPERS 122, TRAIL BLAZERS 117
Here are three quick takeaways from Portland’s fifth seed game from our NBC Sports NW team:
Dwight Jaynes, Insider:
The wrong time to give away a game. One of the worst losses of the Stotts era. Lady who missed two was hard to believe.
Blazers with four bench players on the floor now. Lady the only starter. A concession for the upcoming back-to-back.
– Dwight Jaynes (@dwightjaynes) August 8, 2020
Placing that big lineup and getting hurt on the boards is not something that should happen.
– Dwight Jaynes (@dwightjaynes) August 8, 2020
That was one of the worst losses I’ve ever seen in the Stotts era. So critical of their chances for place no. 8 to steal.
– Dwight Jaynes (@dwightjaynes) August 8, 2020
Jamie Hudson, Reporter
Since the Blazers and Clippers are two of the best three-point shooting teams in the bubble, we knew this had the potential to be a very high score. And it did not disappoint. At halftime, both teams shot about 60 percent from the field and more than 50 percent from three. With neither Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell or Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers clearly missed their top defensive players.
Damian Lillard did a bit of everything on the offensive end as he passed the team on the back, per usual. But at the reunion it was obvious that Lillard was now the no. 8-seed looks like a reality and he is ready to secure that play-in place.
Lady feel it.#RipCity
Stream: https://t.co/V8Auxt7TzF pic.twitter.com/7liUjjTqPO
– NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) August 8, 2020
While Gary Trent Jr. his hot shot continued from three. But what fans probably enjoyed even more than that was to see Trent Jr. come under Paul George’s skin under the other end.
It should also be noted that the ball movement of the Blazers was on point. Whether it was Jusuf Nurkic who found Lillard or CJ McCollum who found Nurkic, Portland shared the wealth Saturday. The Blazers’ hot shot went slower in the second half. Plus they could not get enough stops in the line or convert on the line in crunch time.
Chris Burkhardt, Reporter / Producer
Just be awesome! Win, lose, it does not matter, the rise of Gary Trent Jr. this season has been remarkable. I don’t think fans outside of the Northwest understand why Rip City is in love with Trent Jr.
Not since Wes Matthews fell with an Achilles injury in 2015 have the Blazers had a true three and D man. Allen Crabbe visited. Moe Harkless visited. Al-Farouq Aminu visited. Numerous others have tried, but none were really what Portland needed.
But this season, and specifically in the bubble, Trent Jr. has been that guy. It does not matter who is waiting for him, or who he is waiting for, Trent will bring it.
Portland can look forward to the birth of a star right now, and if not, then this ride is at least a fun one to be on.
[Richard Jefferson joined host Channing Frye on the Talkin’ Blazers Podcast this week. Listen here]:
Next: The Trail Blazers take over the Philadelphia 76ers at 3:30 p.m. (PT) in the second night of Portland from a back-to-back this weekend. Capture all the action on NBC Sports Northwest and stream the game on the MyTeams app.
Also, make sure you check back the rest of the day and tomorrow for analysis, articles and videos from the players!
