Clippers VS Trailblazers (Game 5)

Trailblazers Lead Series 3-2

The Clippers have lost and are now in a downward spiral. They were doing such a great job. The game was tied in the 3rd quarter, but what happened?

The Clippers played well through the first 3 quarters. They were very aggressive. You could tell that they expected to win the game too. 52 of their points came from the paint. Jeff Green was very active on offense as he had 17 points. J.J. Redick had 19 points as well. These are two guys that need to produce if the team is to win.

Going into the 4th quarter is when the Clippers lost it. Jamal Crawford really hurt them. He played 10 minutes in the quarter and shot just 0-4 from the field in those 10 minutes. They weren't the best quality shots either and none of them were in the paint. Other than that the Clippers offense was fine.

Their defense was a different story. Damian Lillard had 16 points in the 4th quater! They were horrible defending him when a big came up to give him a pick. They kind of laid off him letting him get off the shots. When guarding Dame, you can't let him get an open shot at a 3. He will knock him down. Force him inside the arc where he can't hurt you as much.

Damian Lillard - Shot Chart 4th quarter - www.nba.com/stats

The Trailblazers had a great overall game. They once again beat the Clippers in rebounds. Mason Plumlee was a big reason why. C.J. McCollum played great as he ended the game with 27 points. Harkless had a double-double as he had 19 points and 10 rebounds. These guys really contributed to the game which took pressure off Damian Lillard as he only had to come out and close the game. The play from the Trailblazers was amazing and if they keep it up, they are going to be looking at closing this series next game.

Clippers VS Trailblazers (Game 4)

Series Tied 2-2

Chris Paul went down. So did Blake Griffin. Could it cost them. It sure could. Let's take a look at how it could affect them.

First off, I want to say that Doc Rivers made a big mistake not putting Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in the game during the 2nd half. Aminu took advantage of this as he had 30 points and 10 rebounds in the game. The effort wasn't there defensively from Jeff Green. I also think people forget just how great of a defensive player Chris Paul is. Austin Rivers just doesn't have as great of a defensive game as Chis Paul has. Without him, I think that Lillard is just going to explode in scoring these last games of the series, something the Clippers have been doing a great job of limiting this series.

J.J. Redick needs to produce with these 2 out. So does Jeff Green. You might remember back when Jeff Green was on the Celtics, KG told him he could be a star in this league. That never really happened, but now, Jeff Green kind of has his chance. They are going to rely on him to score. He needs to produce. J.J. Redick had 8 points in the game. He needs to be coming off tons of off-ball screens because that is where he excels. He must be much more aggressive coming off those screens. These two guys need to score.

C.J. McCollum was amazing in this game. While he didn't break 20 points in this game, he was amazing in this game defensively. He played solid defense. I was amazed with his impact defensively. You probably weren't watching, but off the ball, he defended so well getting around screen and just getting in his man's face.

Again, Mason Plumlee was amazing. He has been the surprise of the series. He had just 2 points, but he pitched in 14 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 blocks with those 2 points. He has done so much for this Blazers team. He really helped this Trailblazers team get 58 rebounds in the game while the Clippers had 42!

The Clippers aren't looking good. They need offense, and they need it bad. Someone is going to have to step up, and fast.

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest on Monday night!

Monday night was what could be a future dunk contest next year in Toronto at the all-star weekend. Andrew Wiggins had four monster Dunks (two on Rudy Gobert) last night at the Wolves vs Jazz games. His teammate Zach LaVine also had a great dunk. Everyone was saying, wow, these are amazing dunks! Nobody can top that! But the whole NBA was dunking last night. DeMar DeRozan had a great dunk. One of my favorites though, was the Jeff Green dunk. It was a night of Dunking last night. Everyone was throwing it down.