Домой United States USA — mix For Trail Blazers, From Beginning To End In Series Clincher, It's Damian...

For Trail Blazers, From Beginning To End In Series Clincher, It's Damian Lillard Time

232
0
ПОДЕЛИТЬСЯ

Damian Lillard hits a deep buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Portland a 4-1 series win over Oklahoma City. It is Lillard’s second walk-off series clinching shot, and give him a franchise-playoff record 50 points.
He kept it classy all series, but in the end, Damian Lillard indulged in one little piece of trash-talk – or rather, a trash wave. It came after one of the most remarkable shots in Portland Trail Blazers’ history, a deep 3-point shot as time ran out that gave Portland not only a 118-115 victory at the Moda Center, but also a 4-1 first-round playoff series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Who could blame him?
With 6-foot-9 Paul George guarding him, Lillard stepped back and launched a shot that was listed in the official boxscore as 37 feet. It swished, and Lillard made a little farewell hand motion to the Thunder bench just before he was mobbed by teammates.
“It was a great feeling,” Lillard said. “When it left my hands, it felt good.”
The shot was the second 3-pointer with time running out that Lillard has made to clinch a playoff series. The other came in 2014 in the same building, to beat the Houston Rockets and clinch 4-2 first-round series win.
As special as Lillard’s shot was five years ago, Tuesday’s effort was on another level. In 2014, Lillard had LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 30 points and 13 rebounds in the clinching win. On Tuesday, he had to carry the Blazers for much of the game offensively.
The winning shot gave Lillard 50 points, a franchise playoff record, and 10 more than his previous personal playoff high. Lillard was forced to carry the Blazers for most of the first half after his backcourt mate, CJ McCollum, who had been having a strong series, picked up three fouls in the first quarter and did not play in the second. Lillard responded with a remarkable shotmaking exhibition in scoring 34 first-half points, a personal and franchise record. Lillard played all 24 minutes of the first half.
“It was really an easy decision,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
McCollum, who averaged 26.3 points and shot 51.6 percent on 3-pointers in the first three games of the series, floundered when he got back on the court in the third quarter, when Stotts opted to play his five starters the entire period. McCollum shot 2 for 8, including 1 for 5 on 3-pointers, in the quarter.
«My rhythm was gone,» McCollum said.
Lillard also finally hit a wall, shooting 2 for 9 in the quarter, and the Thunder took control of the game behind George, who finished with 36 points. With a quick flurry to start the fourth quarter, the Thunder took a 15-point lead just under 5 minutes into the quarter, and the series seemed headed back to Oklahoma City for Game 6.
But the Blazers kept hammering away at the deficit and got key plays from McCollum, who shot 5 for 8 in the fourth and scored 10 points to finish with 17. Maurice Harkless also chipped in 10 points and showed resolve when, after missing 5 of his first 6 free-throw attempts, made 4 of 4 in the fourth, duplicating his fourth quarter foul shooting in Game 4.
But at the very end, as it so often is in Portland, it was Lillard time. First he tied the game with 32.8 seconds left with a remarkable reverse layup in which he twisted his body around George and somehow banked the ball in. Then after Russell Westbrook ended his miserable series, in which he shot 36 percent form the field, with a missed layup, the Blazers got the ball to Lillard.
Lillard dribbled the time down, and with George on him, stepped back and shot.
“You’re not going to guard a whole, entire half court,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.
The win was sweet on so many levels for the Blazers, who were swept by New Orleans as the No.

Continue reading...