Despite 0-2 Hole, Don’t Count Portland Trail Blazers Out

The Memphis Grizzlies toppled the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, giving them a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.

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But it’s not just that the Grizzlies have won, but, rather, how they’ve won that likely have many deeming the Trail Blazers done.

Memphis flat-out dominated the first two games of the series. They took Game 1 by 14 points and won Game 2 by 15.

The Grizzlies’ physical, lockdown defense has stifled the Trail Blazers’ offense, as Portland didn’t top 90 points or 40 percent shooting from the field in either of the first two games. While the Grizzlies didn’t light it up offensively, they certainly did enough to allow their defense to win them games.

Memphis scored 197 total points and shot a stunningly high 44.0 percent from three in the two games.

However, as over-matched as the Trail Blazers looked in the first two games, it’s too soon to declare this series over.

As the old saying goes, a series hasn’t started until a road team steals a game. While they’ve played outstanding, all the Grizzlies have done to this point is take care of business at home. The Trail Blazers now have the same opportunity in an arena in which they went 32-9 in this season, good for the fourth best home record in the NBA.

Also in Portland’s favor: they will likely be getting Arron Afflalo and Chris Kaman back from injury in Game 3. Kaman missed Game 2 while Afflalo missed both Game 1 and 2.

Arron Afflalo says he'll play "Saturday for sure" said he's getting more comfortable but just wasn't ready for high intensity contact
— Mike Richman (@mikegrich) April 22, 2015

"Kaman said he tried to warm up, but that his ankle, which is noticeably swollen and purple in color, was too painful. Hopeful for Game 3"

Kaman said he tried to warm up, but that his ankle, which is noticeably swollen and purple in color, was too painful. Hopeful for Game 3
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) April 22, 2015

The returns of those two will be huge for Portland, especially Afflalo’s. While the 29-year-old isn’t going to stuff the stat sheet too often, he’s a reliable piece for a Trail Blazers team that’s low on shooting guards. Also, Kaman was a solid role player for Portland all season long, posting averages of 8.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Portland clearly lacked depth in the first two games, but that’s an issue that will certainly be lessened when Kaman and Afflalo return. However, a shortage of depth wasn’t the only reason the Trail Blazers went 0-2 in Memphis.

Portland’s biggest stars, Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, struggled mightily on the offensive end in the first two games and that obviously played a huge role in the results. Lillard had two of the most inefficient games of his season, shooting a combined 10-for-37 from the field and 1-for-11 beyond the arc in the first two games.

Aldridge wasn’t much better, making just 20-of-54 shots in Game 1 and 2. Credit to the Grizzlies for bothering both Lillard and Aldridge to the extent they have to this point. At the same time, given their immense talent, it’s unlikely the Blazers’ top duo continues to perform like they did in the first two games.

Expect to see them play better going forward, especially when playing in front of the Trail Blazers’ electric crowd. There’s no denying the Trail Blazers have a huge mountain to climb. The Grizzlies are obviously one of the best teams in the Western Conference and beating them four times with so little margin for error is an enormous challenge.

But the Trail Blazers have proven all year to be a pretty tough team themselves. So, let’s not act like this team that hasn’t even hosted a game in the series yet is out of it.

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