The NBA playoffs have become interesting all of a sudden. The Portland Trailblazers, now battling the Golden State Warriors, took advantage of the Los Angeles Clippers’ bad luck in the first round, beating them in six games to advance in the Western Conference.
L.A., a highly rated fourth seed, not only lost two of its best players, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, for the season, but also lost them both on the same night, and in the same quarter. Paul’s State Farm commercial with teammate DeAndre Jordan dressed comfortably as a woman in a wig and a sleeveless black dress should be remixed, having Jordan’s lines expanded from not having any rings to not having any rings and not having any luck.
The Clippers’ early, unexpected postseason departure and misfortune is somewhat of a blessing for Golden State, who now plays Portland, but without their star MVP guard, Stephen Curry. Curry, who has been out injured since early last week, hinted that he may return to the Warrior’s lineup Saturday for Game 3 in Portland. The first seed versus the sixth.
Curry has been replaced temporarily by 6-foot-7 guard Shaun Livingston, who has held the position down in Curry’s absence, hitting double figures in each game. The Warriors’ scoring has also been supplemented by a Draymond Green triple-double and 37 points by Clay Thompson in Game 1, and Thompson’s 27 points in Game 2 Tuesday night, Golden State’s come-from-behind in the fourth quarter victory.
Not taking for granted that the Warriors will defeat Portland without competitive opposition, it may make more sense for Curry to sit out a little longer, to ensure his full recovery, as long as he’s not needed to assure a Golden State win.
The Warriors, the defending champions, now up two games, are favored to advance to the next round, the Western Conference Finals, to face the winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder-San Antonio Spurs series. The Thunder-Spurs match up, which resumes tomorrow, Friday, in Oklahoma City, started with a Spurs blowout in Game 1, but the competitive balance resumed in Game 2. Spurs team shooting declined from 61 percent in Game 1 to 43 percent in the series opener. The Thunder, bouncing back, excelled in the first quarter of Game 2, and outlasted a crazy, frenzied, last 13 seconds of the fourth quarter that had an estimated six uncalled fouls or infractions committed to close out the game. That and Oklahoma’s play in the first quarter and San Antonio’s slow, first-quarter start is what got them over, outscoring San Antonio 29-21. The Spurs had opportunities to win, especially at the end, but couldn’t capitalize.
“I thought we lost the game three times tonight, and got back in it,” said Greg Popovich, the Spurs head coach. “Give our guys credit for hanging in there on a night when they weren’t very sharp.”
“We put ourselves in position to win a basketball game, and we did,” said Russell Westbrook, although neither he nor the rest of the Thunder had an answer for Spurs’ power forward LaMarcus Aldridge’s scoring dominance.
Aldridge, 30, in his tenth season, is a dominant post presence. He was born in Texas and attended the University of Texas before being drafted with the second first-round pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2006 draft. He was then traded on draft night to Portland, where he averaged 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds, and leads the Portland franchise in rebounding and double-doubles after nine years. He signed with San Antonio last year in the off-season as a free agent, giving them one of the strongest starting lineups in the NBA. This season, the Spurs are recognized as the NBA’s second best team overall, behind Golden State.
During the first two games of the second round, Aldridge has logged 41 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in Game 2, and 38 points, six rebounds and two blocks in Game 1, a tremendous increase from his 14.5-point first-round average against the Memphis Grizzlies. After a four-game sweep, San Antonio now faces a greater challenge during the second round.
