Portland Trail Blazers: The Forgotten Contenders
In the stacked Western Conference, many have been overlooking the Portland Trail Blazers. They don’t have the high-flying superstars like the Clippers and Thunder and they haven’t won any championships like the reigning champion Spurs or the Mavericks.
They don’t play in a big market like the Houston Rockets with a superstar who regularly makes headlines like Dwight Howard.
Even teams like the Memphis Grizzlies seem to be getting much more attention after their fast start. The Warriors are legitimate title contenders after a dominant 23-4 start. Maybe it’s because Portland is a small market and the Blazers go about their business quietly.
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One thing is for sure, their 23-7 record and play of emerging superstar point guard Damian Lillard has been anything but quiet lately.
Nobody expected the Blazers to beat the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs last season. There seemed to be no way the Blazers could beat a team like the Rockets with a superstar center and rising superstar in James Harden.
After they won the first two games in Houston, people were convinced the Blazers were for real. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 40-plus points in consecutive games and gave them a 2-0 series lead going back to Portland. At that point the Rockets’ spirits were crushed.
The Rockets had no answer for Aldridge in the first two games. They were so bad defensively in that series that it ultimately led to the firing of one of their assistant coaches shortly after they lost in the first round. Aldridge was probably the main reason for this.
After surprising many and making it to the second round last year, they’re certainly good enough to at least make it to the Western Conference Finals this year.
The recent play of Damian Lillard has been ridiculous. He’s shown that his clutch shot-making isn’t just a coincidence in his first two seasons and in the past five days alone, the Blazers wouldn’t have won two games without his late game heroics.
Last week against the Spurs, Lillard made a game-tying layup to force overtime which would only be the beginning of an epic triple-overtime game that’s become an instant classic. After being down by six in each of the first two overtimes, Lillard made clutch shot after clutch shot to force a third overtime.
It looked like the Spurs waved the white flag, surrendering to Lillard and the relentless Blazers, going down by 10 in the third overtime.
If this game wasn’t enough, he spoiled basketball fans again in another epic, historic peformance last night. After going up by double digits against the Thunder, the Blazers gave up their big lead and were down by 13 in the fourth quarter with five minutes left.
Lillard and the Blazers started chipping away at the lead. Then, down three with five seconds left, Lillard made a long three to tie the game and pointed to his wrist, signalling “Lillard Time.” The Blazers easily won in overtime. He became the first player in NBA history with 40 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and eight threes in a game.
The Blazers are ranked third in defensive efficiency and 10th in offensive efficiency in the NBA, indicating they’re legitimate contenders. For some, it might be easy to overlook the Blazers in the Western Conference.
They aren’t flashy like some other teams in the West but after losing badly to the Spurs in the playoffs last season, they look like a team on a mission.