Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from Game 1 loss vs. Warriors

3. An offensive offensive performance

Game 5 of the conference semifinals was a blemish on an otherwise magical playoff run for the Portland Trail Blazers. Their 36.7 percent shooting from the field, 27.0 percent from the 3-point line and 53.3 percent from the line in that game felt like lows this team would fight to never replicate.

Yet there they were in Game 1, back at the bottom. The Blazers’ 94 points in Game 1 were the fewest they’ve scored in these playoffs, and only the third time they didn’t reach the century mark. They came out of the game shooting 36.1 percent from the field (another playoff-low) and 25.0 percent from 3-point range. Harkless and Hood were the only two Blazers to shoot over 45.0 percent on the night.

This time around, free throw shooting was the only thing that kept them in this game. Portland went 27-of-31 from the charity stripe. That’s most the Blazers attempted or made in a game this postseason, and their percentage (87.1 percent) was only bested by their efficiency in Game 4 of the first round.

Portland’s shooting touch was noticeably absent in this game, but so was their ball control. The Blazers coughed up 21 turnovers, a postseason high, conceding 31 points off of them. Conversely, they only forced 14 turns and scored 12 points off of them.

In the end, no amount of free throws can fix bad shooting or a lack of ball control. It was surprising that Portland competed for as much of the game as it did, but it’s definitely something this team won’t get away with as the series continues.