After dismantling the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, the Clippers trip to Portland the very next night would seem to be a vacation by comparison — and it certainly started out that way. But Portland fought back from a 26-point first-half deficit to get within four in the final period, before L.A. stabilized and pulled away to take it by a final of 103-90.
The Clippers entered Thursday night’s game in Portland with one of the top four offenses in the league, while the Blazers were in the bottom four in team defense. The numbers certainly didn’t lie early, as L.A. seemed unstoppable in the first half, putting up 60 points by the break and leading by as many as 26 in the process.
Portland just came out with a lack of energy and zero urgency against a Clippers team that has much more talent and is built to score at will, especially when they aren’t challenged in the slightest. The Blazers settled for jumpers and three-pointers possession after possession, while being slow to get back in transition and rotate defensively.
Things changed a little for the Blazers during the big third-quarter run that got them back in it, but only in the sense that the outside shots started to fall, which fueled the energy to play defense on the other end. Portland shot 53 percent from the field in the second half to make up for the 35 percent it shot in the first, but the team isn’t deep enough to dig its way out of that kind of a hole against one like the Clippers, who are loaded with veteran depth and talent.
DeAndre Jordan had a monster game for L.A., and finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds in just 28 minutes of action. He showed excellent footwork inside, and seems more comfortable playing within his athleticism this year than last.
Former Blazer Jamal Crawford really killed Portland in this one, and led all scorers with 25 points off the bench. He was attacking and aggressive all night long, and the boos from the crowd in Portland he was hearing likely had something to do with that.
The Blazers continued to see good things out of rookie Damian Lillard, who plays under control with confidence and poise while initiating his team’s offense. Myers Leonard got loose for a couple of nice lob dunks at the rim, one of which came as he cut baseline and threw it down over Ronny Turiaf late in the game.
But any effort from the Blazers came far too late to matter. L.A. showed why it’s an upper-echelon team in the Western Conference, and Portland will need to play with maximum intensity from the opening tip to have a legitimate chance most nights this season.
