Clippers-Trail Blazers Game 3: L.A. needs intensity after loss
By Tom West
After losing Game 3 to the Portland Trail Blazers 96-88, the Los Angeles Clippers were frustrated with their lack of energy and urgency.
Before the Los Angeles Clippers shot 40.9 percent, went 3-of-18 from three, got out-rebounded 56-44, and allowed a 15-1 run by the Portland Trail Blazers over the last few minutes, they had a chance to win Game 3. They could have taken a 3-0 series lead after winning the first two games by at least 20 points, but instead suffered against the Blazers’ improved shooting, intensity, and late-game resilience.
After Damian Lillard shot 33.3 percent for an average of 19 points over the first two games, while C.J. McCollum fared even worse with 12.5 points on 32.1 percent shooting, the Blazers’ backcourt finally got something going in Game 3. Lillard had 32 and McCollum added 27, both making tougher shots off the dribble and finding more success attacking the paint.
However, they weren’t the only reason for the Clippers’ loss.
Instead, cool shooting, weak defensive rebounding to allow some costly second-chance points in the final minutes, and lower intensity cost the Clippers as well.
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When Mason Plumlee goes off for 21 rebounds and nine assists, you know something isn’t quite right. And after suffering against the Blazers’ backcourt as everyone outside of Chris Paul (26 points, 10-of-21 shooting, nine assists) and Jamal Crawford (19 points, 9-of-18 shooting) struggled offensively, the Clippers lost their chance to win after leading 85-81 with 3:35 left.
After seeing their flaws on the night unfold and giving up a costly turnover in the fourth quarter, Blake Griffin was particularly critical of the team’s performance after the game.
“You just have to bring more energy,” Griffin said to Arash Markazi of ESPN. “They beat us in almost every facet of the game. They outhustled us, they were better on the glass, they got the 50-50 balls. They had more energy. They flew around. They executed their game plan. You could tell they wanted to go early. They were tougher than us. They were more aggressive. They were tougher.”
With Plumlee racking up 21 rebounds by himself and Maurice Harkless getting an easy put-back dunk to extend the Blazers’ lead to five points within the last minute, it was clear they had an edge in terms of aggression. Besides Lillard and McCollum being hard to stop, a lack of urgency — that’s become a far too common trend in recent Clippers playoff history — was a problem.
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“They pushed, and we didn’t really push back,” Griffin said. “You have to be the team that initiates it. You can’t be the team that responds to it. They did everything, I felt like, they wanted to do.”
However, on a more positive note for the Clippers, their defense had been fairly strong in the last two games. Despite the Blazers missing some shots they’d typically make, the Clips still played with more effort and cohesion at that end of the floor, especially in the paint.
Game 3 was a setback to prevent a sweep, but it’s important to not overreact. Plumlee won’t take over with 21 boards again and the Clippers won’t keeping struggling to shoot above 40 percent.
Even the Oklahoma City Thunder went cold enough to lose to the Dallas Mavericks 85-84 last week.
If the Clippers return to their play from the two opening nights of the series and tackle Game 4 as if it’s an elimination game, they can easily take hold of a 3-1 series lead.
Next: The Clippers lost Game 3... but why?
For the sake of avoiding painful déjà vu for fans, similar lapses in urgency have been costly in the past when it mattered most. This year simply cannot be one of those times.