Series Thread: 2nd Round:Portland Trail Blazers (44-38) vs Golden State Warriors (73-9)

[Hambombs]

Exactly. Its evident by how Lillard struggled today after torching Curry during the season.

I actually remember him torching klay and steph. It's just that the warriors aren't trying as much on defense during the season evade they don't have to

 

[Hambombs]

Dubs in 5

 

[Blitzville]

Warriors and Curry should be smart and let Curry's knee heal thru out the series. Its all fun now vs Blazers but Thompson will need his right hand man Curry big time vs Spurs in Western Conference Finalss because Thompson's hot now but struggles big against the Spurs.

 

[trojanfan12]

Warriors and Curry should be smart and let Curry's knee heal thru out the series. Its all fun now vs Blazers but Thompson will need his right hand man Curry big time vs Spurs in Western Conference Finalss because Thompson's hot now but struggles big against the Spurs.

I don't know about the entire series, but definitely the first 2-3 games. You don't want him to miss too much time and risk him getting rusty. GSW will need him to be as close to 100% as possible vs. the Spurs. If he needs a game or 2 to shake off the rust, it may be too late by the time he's back on track.

 

[CitySushi]

I don't know about the entire series, but definitely the first 2-3 games. You don't want him to miss too much time and risk him getting rusty. GSW will need him to be as close to 100% as possible vs. the Spurs. If he needs a game or 2 to shake off the rust, it may be too late by the time he's back on track.

This. People are making too big a deal about Steph being out and the Warriors showing that they're better without him, etc.

Curry is the MVP of this league and is THE reason the Warriors will have another chance to repeat this year if he comes back from his injury healthy.

The win over Portland was a quality one, but let's not get carried away. The Warriors are at their best when Curry is on the court.

 

[CitySushi]

The biggest thing we've seen since Steph go down with his injury is a mental focus from everyone else on the team. There was a point in the season where the team's play got really sloppy, but it was timed with Steph being so dominant. They kind of sat back and relied on Steph to carry them. With Steph being out, it's made this team focused and determined. This could be a huge blessing in disguise.

The Warriors realize without Steph, their margin of error is really narrow. The team plays a less risky game than they do with Steph out there. They're taking the simple play, which for them works.

Draymond and Klay have been fantastic so far with Steph out. If we get Barnes and Ezeli to get back into form, I'll like our chances against anyone (more so than I already do now).

 

[LAD]

How long is Curry supposed to be out for this series?

he will try to be back by game 3- Saturday 5/7.

 

[LAD]

Seen this story before...Clipps rout Blazers in the first two, then foldup like a lawn chair in the final 4 games...

First off, they lost their two best players and still almost forced a game 7. Portland should be concerned they almost didn't get out of that series.

 

[Montalban]

I actually remember him torching klay and steph. It's just that the warriors aren't trying as much on defense during the season evade they don't have to

Could be, but I still think the big guys with the long reaches make him struggle.

 

[Montalban]

Dubs in 5

Sounds about right. If they can get the first two at home, I like their chances. I don't think Portland matches up well with the Warriors.

 

[CitySushi]

Self awareness at peak levels.

 

[Kingspoint]

I think the Warriors match up a lot better defensively with Livingston playing point. There simply is too much length for McCollum and Lillard to deal with.

That length was a real problem. Lillard actually played very well Defensively, but the length difference had too much of an impact across the starting lineup. When the idea was challeged the day McCollum was drafted that two small Guards could be exploited Defensively. They could hide it in the Clippers series because the Clippers didn't have size at Small Forward and Lillard and Harkless could switch.

If I were Stotts, I would start Crabbe on Thompson and have McCollum come off the bench in Game 2, and see how that goes. That one fix Defensively would make a huge difference. CJ struggled defensively against Riddick in the last series.

I gues Lillard was ill during the game, but it doesn't excuse some poor shot selections and decision to not involve his teammates enough, especially considering he was ill AND missing shots. CJ, also, did not involve his teammates enough, who shot 50%, while he and Lillard shot 20-25% for the first three quarters.

Lillard and CJ are team-first players, but unless they are putting up 60+ points between them, their combination against GS's starting lineup will make it too easy for GS to score on their end.

 

[Kingspoint]

Could be, but I still think the big guys with the long reaches make him struggle.

It makes most Point Guards do worse than normal. It's why we would put Batum on opposing PG's all the time and why Moe Harkless was put on Paul.

When the Blazers beat (destroyed) the Warriors, it was because of a suffocating Defense they played against them in the 3rd Qtr. The Blazers were about 2/3rd's through a stretch during about a third of the length of the season where they led the league in points off turnovers. That 's incredible because Stott's philosophy has always been to play your man straight up, which leads to fewer turnovers, but poorer shot selection with a better ability to block out for a rebound. It was a surprise to see them attacking defensively because there is no true Center to block shots. But, Moe and Aminu are excellent at weakside help.

In that 3rd Qtr, it was only a 6-pt game at 77-71...Curry with 27 at the time, with 8:08 left. Moe came in for Vonleh at just about 6 minutes to go. In that Qtr, the Blazers had 8 steals, 2 Blocks, and 5 additional turnovers were committed by the Warriors. That's 13 turnovers plus 2 blocks. Most of those led to fastbreaks and high-percentage shots. The Blazers only had 2 turnovers. (Lillard had 6 Steals, 7 Assists, 51 pts, 0 Turnovers in 31 minutes) They outscored GS 27-8 the last 8:00 of the 3rd, and the game was over. That wasn't a one-time thing by Portland.

They crushed Cleveland even worse in December which was right about the time they started to play better defense. They lost that Defensive intensity in March and April and just started to get some of it back at the end of the season. They got it back the first 3 Qtrs of Game 2 against the Clippers, all of games 3 and 4, the last 2 Qtrs of Game 5, and struggled again in Game 6.

The fight was there in Game 1, and the Defense showed for parts of the 3rd and 4th. But, if the Blazers can't force turnovers and secure Defensive Rebounds, then they can't push the tempo, which also makes Bogut ineffective defensively and Offensively. Bogut is too much to handle for Plumlee, so the ball needs to be stopped before it gets to him. Kerr will take him out if the Blazers can get points off turnovers (which means they are batting passes, stealing the ball, blocking shots that turn into fast breaks) and limit Offensive Rebounds.

Aminu is quick and can force Green to turn over the ball. Vonleh is strong enough to force Green into turning over the ball. Green had 9 Turnovers in that game. CJ had 6. But, I don't know if Stotts would be willing to start Vonleh on Green. It would keep Moe out of early foul trouble as he comes off the bench. It would keep Aminu out of early foul trouble as he Guards the less involved Barnes. It would give Plumlee and Aminu (not that Moe isn't in their battling) a body more physical than themselves to knock around inside against Bogut, Green and Barnes. Vonleh could play the first six minutes of each half and make Plumlee's, Aminu's and Harkless' job more manageable. Ed Davis would still spell Plumlee, while Gerald Henderson would still find 8-10 minutes per half. I think 8-10 of CJ's minutes should go to Crabbe, who is the same height and weight as Thompson, while being a much better defender. Crabbe has scored double-digits in 4 straight games with his best game of the playoffs coming in Game 1 against the Warriors. He was excellent.

Start Liiliard-Crabbe-Aminu-Vonleh-Plumlee.
Bring in Harkless-McCollum for Vonleh-Crabbe at the 6:00 minute mark.
Bring in Henderson-EdDavis for Aminu-Plumlee at the 4:00 minute mark.
Lillard usually plays the entire 1st Qtr.
So, the last 4:00 has Lillard-McCollum-Henderson-Harkless-EdDavis while Thompson comes out at some point there, and if he doesn't, we'll just have to try to be as feisty as we can on Defense.
Lillard comes out to begin the 2nd Qtr for Crabbe.
At the 8:00 mark, Plumlee-Aminu-Lillard-Vonleh come in for Henderson-EdDavis-McCollum-Harkless.
At the 6:00 mark Harkless comes back in for Vonleh.
At the 4:00 mark McCollum comes back in for Crabbe.

The idea is a constant rotation of fresh, quality defenders, which all of them are, except CJ. Lillard struggles with his feet as a defender, but he's been doing pretty well the last few games, especially with his hands. He even picked Chris Paul a couple of times. He's taken some charges. He had 5 batted passes in one game vs the Clippers. He had a couple of steals vs GS.

Stotts will come up with something.

 

[Kingspoint]

Not an expert, but I think if the Blazers are going to be competitive in this series, they should probably do something about Thompson.

Yes. Start Crabbe both halves against him, and match him up with him during part of the time he's in the 2nd and 4th Qtrs, too.

 

[Shanemansj13]

“They set a lot of illegal screens,’’ Blazers guard CJ McCollum said Tuesday at the team’s shootaround at The Olympic Club. “They are moving and stuff. That’s the respect you get when you are champions, you get a lot more respect from the referees. You have to figure out a way to get around those screens and make it difficult.’’

 

[gordontrue]

Probably just wishful thinking... but I feel a Blazers victory coming tonight.

Warriors have been unbelievable without Curry the last few games. I've gotta think at some point we see the drop-off we saw in the regular season when Curry was out. Think that happens tonight.

 

[Heatles84]

Probably just wishful thinking... but I feel a Blazers victory coming tonight.

Warriors have been unbelievable without Curry the last few games. I've gotta hope at some point we see the drop-off we saw in the regular season when Curry was out. Hoping that happens tonight.

FIFY

 

[Montalban]

It makes most Point Guards do worse than normal. It's why we would put Batum on opposing PG's all the time and why Moe Harkless was put on Paul.

When the Blazers beat (destroyed) the Warriors, it was because of a suffocating Defense they played against them in the 3rd Qtr. The Blazers were about 2/3rd's through a stretch during about a third of the length of the season where they led the league in points off turnovers. That 's incredible because Stott's philosophy has always been to play your man straight up, which leads to fewer turnovers, but poorer shot selection with a better ability to block out for a rebound. It was a surprise to see them attacking defensively because there is no true Center to block shots. But, Moe and Aminu are excellent at weakside help.

In that 3rd Qtr, it was only a 6-pt game at 77-71...Curry with 27 at the time, with 8:08 left. Moe came in for Vonleh at just about 6 minutes to go. In that Qtr, the Blazers had 8 steals, 2 Blocks, and 5 additional turnovers were committed by the Warriors. That's 13 turnovers plus 2 blocks. Most of those led to fastbreaks and high-percentage shots. The Blazers only had 2 turnovers. (Lillard had 6 Steals, 7 Assists, 51 pts, 0 Turnovers in 31 minutes) They outscored GS 27-8 the last 8:00 of the 3rd, and the game was over. That wasn't a one-time thing by Portland.

They crushed Cleveland even worse in December which was right about the time they started to play better defense. They lost that Defensive intensity in March and April and just started to get some of it back at the end of the season. They got it back the first 3 Qtrs of Game 2 against the Clippers, all of games 3 and 4, the last 2 Qtrs of Game 5, and struggled again in Game 6.

The fight was there in Game 1, and the Defense showed for parts of the 3rd and 4th. But, if the Blazers can't force turnovers and secure Defensive Rebounds, then they can't push the tempo, which also makes Bogut ineffective defensively and Offensively. Bogut is too much to handle for Plumlee, so the ball needs to be stopped before it gets to him. Kerr will take him out if the Blazers can get points off turnovers (which means they are batting passes, stealing the ball, blocking shots that turn into fast breaks) and limit Offensive Rebounds.

Aminu is quick and can force Green to turn over the ball. Vonleh is strong enough to force Green into turning over the ball. Green had 9 Turnovers in that game. CJ had 6. But, I don't know if Stotts would be willing to start Vonleh on Green. It would keep Moe out of early foul trouble as he comes off the bench. It would keep Aminu out of early foul trouble as he Guards the less involved Barnes. It would give Plumlee and Aminu (not that Moe isn't in their battling) a body more physical than themselves to knock around inside against Bogut, Green and Barnes. Vonleh could play the first six minutes of each half and make Plumlee's, Aminu's and Harkless' job more manageable. Ed Davis would still spell Plumlee, while Gerald Henderson would still find 8-10 minutes per half. I think 8-10 of CJ's minutes should go to Crabbe, who is the same height and weight as Thompson, while being a much better defender. Crabbe has scored double-digits in 4 straight games with his best game of the playoffs coming in Game 1 against the Warriors. He was excellent.

Start Liiliard-Crabbe-Aminu-Vonleh-Plumlee.
Bring in Harkless-McCollum for Vonleh-Crabbe at the 6:00 minute mark.
Bring in Henderson-EdDavis for Aminu-Plumlee at the 4:00 minute mark.
Lillard usually plays the entire 1st Qtr.
So, the last 4:00 has Lillard-McCollum-Henderson-Harkless-EdDavis while Thompson comes out at some point there, and if he doesn't, we'll just have to try to be as feisty as we can on Defense.
Lillard comes out to begin the 2nd Qtr for Crabbe.
At the 8:00 mark, Plumlee-Aminu-Lillard-Vonleh come in for Henderson-EdDavis-McCollum-Harkless.
At the 6:00 mark Harkless comes back in for Vonleh.
At the 4:00 mark McCollum comes back in for Crabbe.

The idea is a constant rotation of fresh, quality defenders, which all of them are, except CJ. Lillard struggles with his feet as a defender, but he's been doing pretty well the last few games, especially with his hands. He even picked Chris Paul a couple of times. He's taken some charges. He had 5 batted passes in one game vs the Clippers. He had a couple of steals vs GS.

Stotts will come up with something.

Nah. The Dubs got caught sleeping coming off of the All Star break and Portland took advantage of it. In this series we are seeing the real Damian Lillard; a tiny point guard who gets befuddled by size but picks up some stats in garbage time.

But that's a pretty extensive and thought out plan above for a team that's going to be gone in 5 games. Even without the League's MVP playing. They just don't match up well against the Dubs.

 

[CitySushi]

It makes most Point Guards do worse than normal. It's why we would put Batum on opposing PG's all the time and why Moe Harkless was put on Paul.

When the Blazers beat (destroyed) the Warriors, it was because of a suffocating Defense they played against them in the 3rd Qtr. The Blazers were about 2/3rd's through a stretch during about a third of the length of the season where they led the league in points off turnovers. That 's incredible because Stott's philosophy has always been to play your man straight up, which leads to fewer turnovers, but poorer shot selection with a better ability to block out for a rebound. It was a surprise to see them attacking defensively because there is no true Center to block shots. But, Moe and Aminu are excellent at weakside help.

In that 3rd Qtr, it was only a 6-pt game at 77-71...Curry with 27 at the time, with 8:08 left. Moe came in for Vonleh at just about 6 minutes to go. In that Qtr, the Blazers had 8 steals, 2 Blocks, and 5 additional turnovers were committed by the Warriors. That's 13 turnovers plus 2 blocks. Most of those led to fastbreaks and high-percentage shots. The Blazers only had 2 turnovers. (Lillard had 6 Steals, 7 Assists, 51 pts, 0 Turnovers in 31 minutes) They outscored GS 27-8 the last 8:00 of the 3rd, and the game was over. That wasn't a one-time thing by Portland.

They crushed Cleveland even worse in December which was right about the time they started to play better defense. They lost that Defensive intensity in March and April and just started to get some of it back at the end of the season. They got it back the first 3 Qtrs of Game 2 against the Clippers, all of games 3 and 4, the last 2 Qtrs of Game 5, and struggled again in Game 6.

The fight was there in Game 1, and the Defense showed for parts of the 3rd and 4th. But, if the Blazers can't force turnovers and secure Defensive Rebounds, then they can't push the tempo, which also makes Bogut ineffective defensively and Offensively. Bogut is too much to handle for Plumlee, so the ball needs to be stopped before it gets to him. Kerr will take him out if the Blazers can get points off turnovers (which means they are batting passes, stealing the ball, blocking shots that turn into fast breaks) and limit Offensive Rebounds.

Aminu is quick and can force Green to turn over the ball. Vonleh is strong enough to force Green into turning over the ball. Green had 9 Turnovers in that game. CJ had 6. But, I don't know if Stotts would be willing to start Vonleh on Green. It would keep Moe out of early foul trouble as he comes off the bench. It would keep Aminu out of early foul trouble as he Guards the less involved Barnes. It would give Plumlee and Aminu (not that Moe isn't in their battling) a body more physical than themselves to knock around inside against Bogut, Green and Barnes. Vonleh could play the first six minutes of each half and make Plumlee's, Aminu's and Harkless' job more manageable. Ed Davis would still spell Plumlee, while Gerald Henderson would still find 8-10 minutes per half. I think 8-10 of CJ's minutes should go to Crabbe, who is the same height and weight as Thompson, while being a much better defender. Crabbe has scored double-digits in 4 straight games with his best game of the playoffs coming in Game 1 against the Warriors. He was excellent.

Start Liiliard-Crabbe-Aminu-Vonleh-Plumlee.
Bring in Harkless-McCollum for Vonleh-Crabbe at the 6:00 minute mark.
Bring in Henderson-EdDavis for Aminu-Plumlee at the 4:00 minute mark.
Lillard usually plays the entire 1st Qtr.
So, the last 4:00 has Lillard-McCollum-Henderson-Harkless-EdDavis while Thompson comes out at some point there, and if he doesn't, we'll just have to try to be as feisty as we can on Defense.
Lillard comes out to begin the 2nd Qtr for Crabbe.
At the 8:00 mark, Plumlee-Aminu-Lillard-Vonleh come in for Henderson-EdDavis-McCollum-Harkless.
At the 6:00 mark Harkless comes back in for Vonleh.
At the 4:00 mark McCollum comes back in for Crabbe.

The idea is a constant rotation of fresh, quality defenders, which all of them are, except CJ. Lillard struggles with his feet as a defender, but he's been doing pretty well the last few games, especially with his hands. He even picked Chris Paul a couple of times. He's taken some charges. He had 5 batted passes in one game vs the Clippers. He had a couple of steals vs GS.

Stotts will come up with something.

Appreciate the thought out nature of this.

Honestly I feel like the Blazers' best shot to beat the Warriors will be to simply out gun them. In the blowout loss, it was a combination of the Warriors sloppy play and the Blazers shot 53.6% for the game, 56.7% from 3. That's a ridiculous shooting percentage against a Warriors team that defensively is one of the best in the NBA.

I do agree that the Blazers should run more small units against the Warriors, primarily to get Bogut out of the game. He is their best interior defender and a great passer and screen setter on the offensive end. If he's out of the game, Dame and McCollum have more room on drives without a true shot blocking presence.

It'll be interesting to see what adjustments are made tonight.

 

[lakersrule]

Probably just wishful thinking... but I feel a Blazers victory coming tonight.

Warriors have been unbelievable without Curry the last few games. I've gotta think at some point we see the drop-off we saw in the regular season when Curry was out. Think that happens tonight.

Curry missed 3 games in the regular season and GS went 2-1 in those games. There wasn't much of a drop-off.