J-Speaks: Trail Blazers Swept by The Warriors Again

They produced double-digit leads against the two-time defending NBA champions in Games 2, 3 and 4 of the of the Western Conference Finals. In Game 4, their dynamic starting backcourt put together their best performance of the series. In Games 3 and 4 they got a stellar performance by their reserve big man. They even registered their most productive third quarter of the series in Game 4, which gave them a chance to continue their season. However, the back-to-back defending champs came from behind for the third straight game and eventually prevailed on Monday night, to earn the right to defend their back-to-back titles. 

Even with a career-high night of 30 points with 12 rebounds on 12 for 16 shooting, including 5 for 8 from three-point range from reserve power forward/center Meyers Leonard and double-double of 28 points and 12 assists from All-Star Damian Lillard and 26 points from his backcourt mate CJ McCollum, the No. 3 Seed in the West the Portland Trail Blazers fell versus the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors 119-117 in overtime on Monday night, on ESPN to have their season end in a four-game sweep for the third straight season and for the second time in the last three seasons by the boys from the “Bay Area.” 

In the past three games, the Trail Blazers had double-digit leads of 17, 18 and 17 in the second half and the Warriors came back each time to prevail. 

The Trail Blazers had a chance their chance to extend the series to a Game 5 in the closing seconds of overtime but Lillard’s corner three-pointer with 03.3 seconds left fell short as the Trail Blazers lost for the 11^th consecutive playoff game and 12 of 13 postseason tilts against the Warriors all-time, falling to them 4-1 in the 2016 Semifinals and a 4-0 sweep in the First-Round of the 2017 West Playoffs. The Trail Blazers also fell to 2-11 all-time in best-of-seven series they trailed 2-0. 

“Hats off to the Golden State Warriors. They’ve shown how good they are. Championship pedigree,” Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, whose team’s postseason ended in a four-game sweep for the third straight season said in his postgame presser. “We played them three really good games and couldn’t get over the hump. But I think it was more of a demonstration of how good they are and how good they’ve been over the years, and they find ways to win.” 

The two biggest differences in this tilt between these Western Conference foes was the Trail Blazers’ inability to have strong starts after intermission. 

The Warriors in the first three games of the series outscored the Trail Blazers 91-63 in the third quarter, outshooting them 53 to 39 percent. The boys from “Rip City” only averaged 21.0 points in the first 12 minutes after halftime in the first three games as well.  

Portland in a must win contest corrected matters outscoring the back-to-back defending champs 26-22 in the third on 10 for 18 shooting, with 20 of those points coming from Lillard and McCollum on 8 for 15 shooting. 

While the Warriors shot just 13 for 31 (41.9 percent) combined in the fourth quarter and overtime, the Trail Blazers were an abysmal 9 for 31 shooting and were outscored 32-22 as the Warriors made all the big plays when it mattered the most. 

When asked if he expected another game-winning shot at the final buzzer by Lillard as he did to end the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season in Game 5 of the First-Round, Coach Stotts said, “Yeah, I did. I thought it was going to—kind of meant to be.” 

“When he shot it, it had a good arc. I thought it had a chance.” 

While Lillard and McCollum had better performances shooting wise, going 11 for 24 and 10 for 22 from the field in the Game 4 loss on Monday night, both players were held in check for much of the series by the stingy defense of the Warriors. 

To bring this point into clearer context, Lillard in the opening-round against the Thunder averaged 33 on 45.3 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from three-point range. In the Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets, which the Trail Blazers won in seven games he averaged 25.1 points but shot just 39.6 percent from the floor and 27.0 percent from three-point range. In the Conference Finals against the Warriors, Lillard averaged just 22.3 points and while he shot 37.1 percent from three-point range, he managed just 36.1 percent overall from the floor. Lillard in the series had 26 made field goals and 18 turnovers. 

The Warriors constant trapping and blitzing of Lillard in the half court, especially in the pick-and-roll really took away the Trail Blazers timing at the offensive end and they threw fresh bodies at him at all time particularly perimeter defensive aces Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala, who did not play in Game 4 because of an injured calf. 

It did not help that Lillard had played the last two games of the series with injured ribs sustained in Game 2. However, the All-NBA First Team selection last season did not use that as an excuse. 

“Everybody’s tired,” he said. “It’s the third round of the Playoffs after a long season. Our last series, I got a lot of attention. The team was giving me a lot of attention and the same thing in this series. It takes a lot to deal with that and go out and chase guys around on the defensive end.” 

In the final seconds of the 114-111 loss in Game 2 by the Trail Blazers, McCollum missed a driving jump shot with 32 seconds left that led to a Draymond Green score that put the Trail Blazers up by three with 12.3 seconds remaining. Lillard’s game-tying three-point attempt from the left wing was blocked by Iguodala. 

“They stole it, but they earned it down the stretch,” McCollum, who had 22 points on 9 for 23 shooting in the loss said.   

While Monday night was a tough way for the Trail Blazers’ season to end, getting swept out of the postseason for a third consecutive time they have a lot to be proud of this season. 

This team could have let the loss starting center Jusuf Nurkic to a broken leg suffered in their 148-144 double-overtime win versus the Brooklyn Nets on Mar. 25 serious affect them but they did not. 

They could have let the loss of McCollum for a 10-game stretch late in the regular-season to a knee injury in a 108-103 loss at the San Antonio Spurs nine days prior affect them, but it did not. 

The Trail Blazers had a 10-game losing streak entering the 2019 Playoffs, where they matched up against the Thunder, who beat them all four times during the regular-season. 

All they did was ignore the doubters and the trash talk from All-Star lead guard Russell Westbrook and took them down 4-1, with Lillard having the final say with a 30-plus foot game-winning triple to win Game 5 118-115 on Apr. 23. 

The Trail Blazers entered their Game 7 tilt at the Denver Nuggets having lost 19 of their last 22 postseason road games. NBA Game 7 history was not on their side either as road teams in the decisive seventh game of a best-of-seven series were 28-105 entering that contest. 

After falling into a 17-point hole late in the opening half and trailing 48-39 at intermission, the Trail Blazers outscored the Nuggets 61-48 in the second half and became the 29^th team in NBA history to win Game 7 on the road defeating the upstart Nuggets 100-96. 

In the first Game 7 of his career, Lillard struggled scoring just 13 points on 3 for 17 from the field but McCollum made up for that with 37 points on 17 for 29 from the floor with nine rebounds. Lillard also made two crucial threes that kept his team on the high side of the scoreboard. 

“Looking at the season overall, you know, I think it was a special season for us,” Lillard said in his postgame presser about the 2018-19 campaign for the Trail Blazers. “Coming off back-to-back sweeps-it’s another sweep, but you rather be swept in the Western Conference Finals than in the First-Round.” 

“I just think looking at the season overall and the way we responded after a lot of people, you know got on our cases, you know. A lot of people came down on us and we got to work. Each guy came back better individually and we put together a great season. We lose our owner; dealt with injuries-Nurk out for the season; CJ missed a lot of games at a crucial stretch of the season and we just kept answering the call.”

While the supporting cast of the Trail Blazers, other than Leonard, who started the last two games did not have a good showing in Game 4 of the Conference Finals, Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Enes Kanter, Rodney Hood, Zach Collins, Evan Turner, and Seth Curry had their moments during this postseason, where they advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. 

Kanter, who played the last two series with a seriously injured shoulder sustained in the Game 5 win of the First-Round against the Thunder averaged 11.4 points and 9.6 rebounds in the Playoffs filled a huge void left by the broken leg as mentioned earlier sustained by Nurkic. 

Second-year big man in Collins showed some serious growth of his game in these playoffs, especially to close out the Nuggets series where he had 14 points and five blocks in the Trail Blazers 119-108 win in Game 6 on May 9 to knot the series at 3-3. In the Game 7 win three days later, Collins had just seven points, but garnered six rebounds and had four block shots. He was the only other Trail Blazer in double-figures in their Game 4 loss on Monday night with 10 points. 

For much of his seven-year career, all with the Trail Blazers, Leonard had been very inconsistent and got spotty playing time because of his inability to play well consistently or that the team had better front court players in front of him. The last two games of the Conference Finals by the No. 11 overall pick out of the University of Illinois were very exceptional, especially his first half performance. 

After a 13-point first half in the Game 3 loss, Leonard came back with 25 points in the opening 24 minutes of Game 4 on 10 for 12 shooting, including 5 for 6 from three-point range. It however did not translate into the second half as Leonard only scored just three points on 1 for 5 shooting in the second half of the Game 3 setback and just five points on 2 for 4 shooting in the second 24 minutes of Game 4. 

The one player who played a huge role in the Trail Blazers being in position to reach the Conference Finals is Hood, who went from averaging 3.2 points on 23.7 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from three-point range in the opening-round against the Thunder, averaged 14.7 points on 58.3 percent shooting and 50.0 percent from three-point range in the Semis against the Nuggets. 

The No. 23 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Duke was huge in the team’s 140-137 quadruple-overtime win in Game 3 versus the Nuggets scoring 19 points off the bench, including a key three-pointer in the four overtime to put the Trail Blazers ahead 140-137, which is the score they won by. In the Game 6 victory, which got them to Game 7 Hood had a playoff career-high of 25 points on 8 for 12 shooting off the bench. 

While he only averaged just 5.6 points off the bench on 36.6 percent overall from the floor this postseason, the younger Curry in his first postseason of his four-year career had his moments like when he had 16 points going 4 for 6 from three-point range in the Trail Blazers’ 116-112 loss versus the Nuggets in Game 4 of the Semis on May 5. He also had 16 points on 4 for 7 from three-point range with four steals in the previously mentioned Game 2 loss at the Warriors of the Conference Finals on May 16. 

This was the first time in the history of either the Eastern or Western Conference Finals that two brothers faced off against each other and while it was short lived, two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry of the Warriors was very proud of how his younger brother, who he outscored 29-3 when the two guarded each other in the series performed this season, especially after missing all of the 2017-18 campaign with an injury. 

“I mean, somebody had to lose but this is just the beginning for him in his career in terms of being on this stage,” Stephen, who had a triple of 37 points, 11 assists and 13 rebounds in the Game 5 win said to ESPN’s Doris Burke about his younger sibling. “He’s proved to a lot of people that not only does he belong; you know, he can play big minutes in a playoff game.” 

“So, we’ll remember this for the rest of our lives, and for our family and they’re back home watching like, ‘This is what its all about,” for sure. 

The question for the Trail Blazers going forward into next season is can they get back to this point and have a better outcome? 

It will largely depend on Nurkic getting as close back to the player he was prior to breaking his leg where he averaged career-highs of 15.6 points and a team-leading 10.4 rebounds. 

It also depends on how quickly the Trail Blazers can find a new owner to replace the late Paul Allen, who passed away before the start of this past regular season and what will that person’s objective for the team be moving forward when that decision comes? 

Can they afford to bring back Hood, Curry, Aminu, and Kanter, who are unrestricted free agents on July 1 and reserve forward Jake Layman, who is a restricted free agent.  

Then there is the big elephant in the room of having to decide whether to give Lillard the super max extension, which he became eligible for because he was named All-NBA Second Team at the close of this past week.

Lillard can sign that extension this summer or take it next summer when the Trail Blazers front office offers it to him. If he decides to sign that extension this summer, which according to sources from ESPN's Brian Windhorst says Lillard would make an average of $47.8 million on a four-year, $191 million super max extension, which would create a $224 million six-year commitment that would take him through the bulk of the remainder of his career. If the Trail Blazers offer him that contract extension in the summer of 2020, Lillard's average salary would be $49.4 million on a five-year $247 million deal. 

When the Trail Blazers were in this same situation three summers back with the salary cap spike, they spent money on players in Turner, Leonard, and Aminu who on the surface have not lived up to those contracts. 

Which is why former Trail Blazer, six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen said on this past Tuesday's edition of "NBA: The Jump" on ESPN that the team should hold off on offering that super max extension to Lillard. 

"I think if they have a couple of years to wait I would wait," Pippen, who was on the Trail Blazers last Conference Finals team that lost at the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 said. "I think the Blazers need to improve that roster a little bit, and I think if he goes and get the super max it's really going to limit what they can do." 

Pippen added to that saying, "As far as the super max, there that I know got super max in this league and one that I think deserves it, Steph Curry. And I think for a guy to get a super max in this league-to even start to talk about that, you need to be on an MVP level or you need to be winning NBA championships. And if you're looking at the Blazers they've been swept the last three times in the playoffs then I don't know if they have a player on that team that's deserving of a super max." 

We have seen what Pippen has said go both ways. Curry as he mentioned a super max on extension a few years ago, and that worked because the front office was able to put themselves in position salary cap wise to make other key moves like signing Durant and keeping the likes of Green, Livingston, and Iguodala in the fold. Westbrook two summers back got a contract extension and they were able to re-sign fellow All-Star Paul George last summer to a big time contract but they have been unable to add better talent to the roster. Then there is the situation with the Washington Wizards where perennial All-Star lead guard John Wall signed his super max contract last summer and is now on the shelf recovering from leg surgery and will be out way into next season, and has put them in such a pickle that they are deciding whether to start over by trading their most valuable asset in his All-Star backcourt mate in Bradley Beal, who missed out on making an All-NBA squad or keep him and see where next season takes them. 

What is in the Trail Blazers favor this time around is that if they offer Lillard that super max deal it would not kick in for a two-year period when he signs it, the team would have a window next summer when Aminu, Turner, and Leonard's contracts come off the books, which means the Trail Blazers would not be handcuffed salary cap wise to improve their roster, according to Windhorst. 

One thing the Trail Blazers’ front office, led by their President Neil Olshey, who according to ESPN got a contract extension through 2024 did to keep continuity to the team going forward was ink Coach Stotts to a new multi-year contract extension after the team won 50-plus games under his guidance for the third time in his seven seasons and led them to the playoffs for the sixth year in a row. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Coming into the 2019 NBA Playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers had a lot of hurdles to get over. They not only advanced past the First-Round for the first time since 2017 but they reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 19 years, where they lost at the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7. The backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum proved they were good enough to lead their squad to the brink of being in The NBA Finals. The supporting cast proved they can rise to the moments when it is called upon in the Playoffs. That said, they became the first team in the last 20 postseasons to blow a 15-plus point lead in three straight games in a single series. It was a special year in “Rip City,” despite the way it ended on Monday night and hopefully this was just the beginning of a drive for the franchise’s second Larry O’Brien trophy in the future. 

“So, it’s a disappointing loss, but it was an outstanding season with the guys in the locker room we’re special, and it’s been a special season,” Coach Stotts said. “It’s always tough to lose the last game of the year but couldn’t be more proud of the group we had.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/18/19 9 p.m. edition of “NBA Courtside,” presented by SoFi with Michelle Beadle, Jalen Rose, Chauncey Billups, and Paul Pierce; 5/18/19 9 p.m. Game 3 of Western Conference Finals “Golden State Warriors versus Portland Trail Blazers,” on ESPN, presented by Google Next with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Doris Burke; 5/20/19 9 p.m. Game 4 of Western Conference Finals “Golden State Warriors versus Portland Trail Blazers,” on ESPN, presented by Google Next with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Doris Burke; 5/20/19 11:30 p.m. edition ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with Steve Levy and John Buccigross; 5/21/19 3:30 a.m. edition of NBATV's "Gametime" with Casey Stern, Greg Anthony, and Channing Frye; 5/21/19 3 p.m. edition of "NBA: The Jump" on ESPN, fueled by Marathon with Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst, and Scottie Pippen; 5/21/19 and 5/24/19 ESPN news crawl; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/por; www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401131834; www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401131836; www.espn.com/nb/team/stats/_/name/por; www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/por/seasontype/2; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6606/damian-lillard; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2490149/cj-mccollum; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2581177/rodney-hood;  www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4066650/zach-collins;  www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6605/meyers-leonard; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Golden_State_Warriors_seasons.