FanPost

Overreacting to Play-Off Game #4: Portland 111, OKC 98

PORTLAND CAN PLAY ELITE DEFENSE (EVEN WITH KANTER). True. There are SO many stories to this game. Every play-off game begs for overreactions. You get the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. To make it through, a team needs constants to rely on. Defense can be that constant, and the knock has always been on the Blazers that they cannot defend well enough with 2 small guards. But look at what happened tonight:

The Thunder had 68 points thru 3 periods. Quarters of 24, 22 and 22. That shouldn't happen to a desperate quality team playing at home. Not in the modern NBA in which 110-120 points a night is the new normal.

OKC scored only 22 points in the paint!!!!! With this performance it is easy to forget that Portland lost its only real rim protector when Nurk went down. Adams was going to eat Kanter up. Russ was going to carve up the Blazers' interior. PG was going to rip Portland apart. Every advantage that the Thunder has involve dominating the paint. Yet they couldn't do it. Once the game becomes a match-up of jump shooters and 3 pointers, Portland will win (at least 3 out of 4).

Kanter is holding his own. We know that Dame and CJ are vulnerable to post-ups. But if Enes was being destroyed as well, there would be no hope for Portland. When Kanter first arrived, we saw some stretches in which teams attacked him relentlessly, often with great success. This was often with bench players. Now being exposed to starters was a recipe for disaster. Yet it hasn't happened. Kanter is not suddenly Rudy Gobert. But he was competing and making enough plays. His spike block of Westbrook was one of the gems of the game. Enes also came up with 2 steals as well.

Portland was active. 10 steals and 8 blocks are both well above season averages. The Blazers focus on keeping teams shooting percentages down, and tonight OKC only shot 37.5%. Portland managed to do all that without fouling. limiting the Thunder to only 22 foul shots.

Portland can make the Western Conference finals if they keep playing defense this way.

CRAZY THINGS GO ON INSIDE WESTBROOK'S HEAD. True. Russ ended Game 3 at his Westbrookiest. He was snarling. He was mocking Dame. He was nailing shots. He hit free throws. He hit 3's. He is such a brutal competitor that he often will his weak jump shot into a supreme weapon. But there is part of him that sometimes realizes his limitations.

I mentioned fool's gold in my last write-up to describe the Thunder's newfound joy in their jump shooting. As Westbrook pulled up for jumpers, I kept repeating that phrase, even as Russ was nailing 5 of his 1st 11. Westbrook shooting jump shots with a defender in front of him is a win for the defense. Not every time, as Russ makes some. But it means that Westbrook is not attacking the rim, he is not drawing 2nd and 3rd defenders, he is not getting fouled.

Quick: Who had the most shots in the game? George had 21. CJ had 20. Westbrook had 20. Then Dame had 19. 3 of those 4 are great shooters. Russ does some amazing things well. But trying to match jumpers with the Blazer backcourt is just crazy.

MO AND CHIEF WERE AMAZING TONIGHT. Also true. We have maligned them. We have discussed benching at least Harkless. All discussions of "the missing piece" involve up-grading over one or both of these players. We know they are inconsistent. But we have also stated that Portland plays its best basketball when these 2 are playing well and contributing. And they both came to play tonight!

First of all, these 2 guys are the key to Portland's defense. Playing along 3 minus defenders, Portland's forwards have to defend Paul George as well as providing help defense as well as rim protection. Aminu and Harkless did all of that nd more tonight. They combined for 4 blocks and 3 steals, Chief had 9 boards and Mo had 10.

Dame and CJ need some help from someone on offense. They need relief from the intense pressure. Mo and Chief did not have a great shooting night, going only 12-29 combined. Chief especially took advantage of space, canning 4 from deep. It is the rare night this year when both of the forwards are scoring, and their 34 points were vital in this game. Grant and Ferguson out-played these 2 in OKC's game 3 win. Tonight Mo and Chief out-scored them 34-14, the biggest single difference in the ballgame.

DAME AND CJ ARE ENHANCING THEIR REPUTATIONS. True. This the biggest stage. Regular season numbers are great, but this is the time for stars to shine. This was billed as the battle of the 2 OKC superstars versus 1 for Portland. Yet Portland is on the verge of winning the series and the only question at this point is which of the 2 Blazer stars has played better.

CJ would drive me nuts if I was rooting against Portland. I would know that Lillard is great. But CJ is a professional shot maker. His quiet confidence and killer cross-over are bubbling over in these games. He creates his own shot against impossibly stacked challenges. 10-20 and 5-9 from behind the arc. Those would be great numbers against anybody. But with Paul George hunting you down and double-teams at every corner that is incredible production. It was McCollum who produced just enough to prevent a Thunder comeback in the 4th.

Lillard once again had an uneven performance on the night. But when he buried the 3 three-pointers in the 3rd, it broke open the game and (for a while) broke the Thunder's spirit. Dame had every right to clown around and gloat and get back at Russ, PG and Schroder for the Game 3 antics. Instead he strapped on his hard hat and kept playing. You won't hear any crowing from Lillard until Portland has wrapped up the series. Maybe not even then.

FINAL GRADE: There are still so many remarkable aspects to this game. CJ's strip of Paul George and subsequent 3 was the play of the series so far. For most of the 1st half the Thunder were playing impossibly hard defense. Then when they were getting contributions from Felton (of all people), it looked like this could be an even series. One other crucial element was that Portland took care of the ball in this contest, with only 12 turnovers versus an aggressive defense. Dame's flurry to end the half and feed to Chief for a final 3 set the tone for the 2nd half. The bench is really struggling to get any offensive traction, but Collins was a brilliant exception tonight. His blocked shot/draw the charge on Westbrook play was the defensive gem of the night. He executed the high roll at the free throw line much better than Kanter, and his 10 points were much needed in this game. Curry is unable to find any space, and Hood has lost all confidence in his 3 ball. Hopefully these role players will step up with Game #5 back in Portland. There is sometimes a magic around a team. Tonight Portland got stops right when they need to. They made shots when they really counted. They played with a controlled fury throughout the game. Just like their leader does. Cool, calm, efficient, and effective. This was the type of performance we have hoped for and thought could happen, yet we have somehow doubted. I know Portland should not have coughed up so much of the lead, but they were never actually threated. This was a series-changing and possibly franchise-changing win on the road in the play-offs. A+