With Golden State continually running multiple defenders at him, Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has had a rough Western Conference Finals as Portland finds itself in a 3-0 series hole.
The Golden State Warriors’ formula for beating Portland Trail Blazers has been simple enough: focus their defense on Damian Lillard, running multiple defensive players at him to force him into a tough shot, or get him to pass to a teammate.
The result has been a Lillard who has not been able to produce at his usual All-Star level, no more so than Saturday, when Lillard made just five shots, and Golden State won 110-99 at the Moda Center to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
No team in NBA history has won a series after trailing 3-0, and while the Blazers have broken through two historic barriers this postseason – beating a team (Oklahoma City) that swept them in the regular season, and winning a Game 7 on the road for the first time in franchise history – this is by far the most daunting, coming against the two-time defending champions who are trying to get to a fifth consecutive NBA Finals.
The Warriors have come with a gameplan that has forced Lillard into tough choices. Already covered at times by a superb one-on-one defender in Klay Thompson, Lillard has faced a second player running at him. That often leaves an open teammate, usually forwards Maurice Harkless or Al-Farouq Aminu, to pass to, and the Warriors seem willing to bet they won’t make enough open shots. Harkless and Aminu finished with a combined eight points Saturday.
“I think what they want me to do is make the correct play, and for me I try to do that as long as possible,” Lillard said.
Lillard finished with 19 points and shot 5 for 18 from the field, and 3 for 9 on 3-pointers. He also had six assists and five turnovers.
“I think the double teams, obviously the trapping, is designed to get the ball out of his hands so he doesn’t have the same freedom,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
It’s no secret that Portland relies on its guards to score, with Lillard carrying a great load as the star player. But in a matchup against another top point guard, Stephen Curry, Curry has outshined Lillard, outscoring him 109-61 in the series.
Curry continues to get better looks, and he made 6 of 16 3-point attempts Saturday and finished with 36 points. He is helped greatly by forward Draymond Green’s playmaking as he finished with 12 assists to go with 20 points and 13 rebounds for his third triple-double of the playoffs.
Unlike Lillard’s first group with Portland, which had forward Nicolas Batum who could take on a playmaking role and often led the team in assists, Lillard has to be a distributor as well as the primary scorer for Portland, and while he has shined in that role throughout his career, it has been a grind against the Warriors as he has shot 32.6 percent (15 for 46) from the field in the series.
His backcourt mate, CJ McCollum, led Portland with 23 points, but he shot just 7 for 20 from the field and 2 for 10 on 3-pointers.
In the first Western Conference Finals game in Portland in 19 years, the Blazers gave their home crowd plenty to cheer in the first half, when they repeated the script from Game 2 and dominated, leading by as many as 18 points and entering halftime up 66-53. They got a big lift from surprise starter Meyers Leonard, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half.
But the offensive burst came while Lillard was struggling to make shots as he was 2 for 6 from the field, scoring half of his 10 points at the free throw line.
