Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 1: THUNDER @ BLAZERS - APRIL 14, 2019, SUNDAY, 12:30 PM, ABC

[Orion Bailey]

If you watch the tape of the game you’ll see that the crowd noise was sporadic, never sustained for more than 2-3 possessions, and overall it was not very helpful. You were probably just drunk

You do realize crowd noise is a controllable thing on tv? They can mute it out or let it roar. Most often its toned down on tv so viewers can still hear the announcers.

Ive been to many loud games to come back and watch it and say to myself. Man it was louder than it seems on tv.

 

[stampedehero]

Nice job @Darkwebs! Thanks!

Who's going to the game?

Great Graphics!!! Possibly your best ever!!!

 

[stampedehero]

Kanter really put it together. The scramble for the loose balls and rebounds got me screaming with admiration for the gutsy performances from both teams.

 

[James lamphear]

This. If the Thunder shot their average from the 3, this would have been a blowout. We cannot rely on them staying cold the entire series. I think game 2 is going to be a much more realistic taste of what facing the Thunder will be like.

I'm happy for the win, but I feel like it's more of an anomaly than an earned win. And that's no disrespect intended towards Dame or Kanter. Dame I thought didn't play GREAT, but it was good enough.



He's definitely a rotation player, and certainly NOT worth a 10th round pick. I'm beyond sick and tired of drafting projects and those whom are barely old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes.

I am not giving up on the kid he may not going be a super star but he going be a good usable big man that just needs to get stronger. He actually one better defender that has helped us win some games this year by his impact at the defensive end.

 

[James lamphear]

Yea we played in spurts after the 1st quarter but our front line actually played some pretty good D. I think our starting guards has give better effort on D. Yes they played in spurts at that end but overall they wasn't real good. I know sometimes I felt Dame gave some bad effort on that end. There were times when they didn't even set a pick and Westbrook just drove by him without him even try to keep in front of him. Now I know someone will try to slam me talking about Dame because he score 28 points but I could go into his offensive too.

 

[illmatic99]

Dame loves that pullup from the right wing by the arena logo to start off the game. He did the same for the very first shot in his career.

 

[TBpup]

Meyers looked better back then....sigh.

 

[Nurkalicious]

You do realize crowd noise is a controllable thing on tv? They can mute it out or let it roar. Most often its toned down on tv so viewers can still hear the announcers.

Ive been to many loud games to come back and watch it and say to myself. Man it was louder than it seems on tv.

All I can tell you is Portland seemed like one of the quietest stadiums on TV.

 

[Nurkalicious]

Dame loves that pullup from the right wing by the arena logo to start off the game. He did the same for the very first shot in his career.

It’s smart, it’s not much farther from that logo than it is for a straight-away three - yet no one guards that area

 

[blue9]

All I can tell you is Portland seemed like one of the quietest stadiums on TV.

Maybe if you repeated yourself some more people will believe you and you'll have won.

 

[TBpup]

With the title,

"About Last Night, This Is For You, Jennifer"

On NBA.com. Outstanding!

 

[Labinot41]

All I can tell you is Portland seemed like one of the quietest stadiums on TV.

Dude, we had a amazing crowd

 

[Nurkalicious]

*edited*

 

[THE HCP]

Great Graphics!!! Possibly your best ever!!!

I'm not so sure the term "GREAT" is what I'd use.

 

[THE HCP]

Didn't see many on here talk about Mo and Chief. I think they were VERY active on the defensive end. Helping out Kanter down there. I believe if they can continue that hustle on that side of the court, we are going to win more games.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Didn't see many on here talk about Mo and Chief. I think they were VERY active on the defensive end. Helping out Kanter down there. I believe if they can continue that hustle on that side of the court, we are going to win more games.

Mo was amazing defensively on George, especially in the first quarter, and Aminu just seemed to be everywhere when he was in. No doubt, those two played very well.

 

[TBpup]

Mo was amazing defensively on George, especially in the first quarter, and Aminu just seemed to be everywhere when he was in. No doubt, those two played very well.

Mo was solid early and Aminu had his moments throughout the game.....but they NEED to be even better because they were outscored 34-12 on the offensive side and that was with George having a miserable shooting night on quite a few open shots as someone showed in a graph.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Yeah agree Aminu had great defense as always. That does give us flexibility to make up for Kanter lack of defensive ability. I was however very pleased with Kanters effort level. Often in his career he has been atroucious on defense. Last night I thinl he was closer to average than bad!

 

[riverman]

Mo was solid early and Aminu had his moments throughout the game.....but they NEED to be even better because they were outscored 34-12 on the offensive side and that was with George having a miserable shooting night on quite a few open shots as someone showed in a graph.

We got 74 points from 3 guys last night...seems the game plan was to keep Chief and Mo on George all night long and be relentless..worked. They simply don't need to score with this gameplan. Enes offensive rebounds give Dame and CJ the green light to shoot jumpers knowing there's a good chance Enes gets a second possession....If we don't have 6 guys in double figure scoring it shows pretty much on the scoreboard....no 134 pts last night...kept them under 100 which I totally give credit to Chief and Mo for doing..they wore Paul George down....Mo was leaning on his bad shoulder all night and swiping at his shooting arm with force. PG didn't just miss shots he normally makes...he was tired from being chased all 4 qtrs. without a break

 

[Orion Bailey]

All I can tell you is Portland seemed like one of the quietest stadiums on TV.

Were you at the arena?

If not, I wouldnt be so presumptious.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Mo was solid early and Aminu had his moments throughout the game.....but they NEED to be even better because they were outscored 34-12 on the offensive side and that was with George having a miserable shooting night on quite a few open shots as someone showed in a graph.

Allowing 34 points on 32 shots, while taking only 10 shots themselves, is perfectly acceptable to me.

 

[TBpup]

@riverman ...I concur that Mo and Aminu did a good job. I just don't feel comfortable relying on George missing the 8 of 11 'open' shots again as show by whomever posted the graph showing types of shots. Now if his shoulder is so bad that no matter if he is open or not, he can't shoot, that is a big bonus for us. I'm just not counting on that.

I more made '3' and Kanter not scoring on that traveling, left-handed bank that started at the 3-point line and who knows what happens. As with most of the games this season between these teams, the gap is very small.

 

[Cugel]

Chief also hit clutch FTs.

 

[stampedehero]

Portland was led by Lillard, who went 9-of-21 from the field, 5-of-11 from three and 7-of-8 from the free throw line to with four rebounds, four assists and three steals in just under 39 minutes. Lillard has now scored at least 30 points in 11 playoff games.

CJ McCollum went 9-of-24 from the field for 24 points, six rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.

Enes Kanter, facing his former team, put up a double-double of 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and a playoff-career best of 18 rebounds while also blocking two shots in 34 minutes. He became just the third player in franchise history, joining Bill Walton and LaMarcus Aldridge, to scored at least 20 points and 18 rebounds in a playoff game. Source: Official Blazers site.

 

[illmatic99]

Chief also hit clutch FTs.

He's up to like 87% this year. He's automatic. Quite an improvement from his career < 75%.

I just jinxed him, didn't I?

 

[illmatic99]

@riverman ...I concur that Mo and Aminu did a good job. I just don't feel comfortable relying on George missing the 8 of 11 'open' shots again as show by whomever posted the graph showing types of shots. Now if his shoulder is so bad that no matter if he is open or not, he can't shoot, that is a big bonus for us. I'm just not counting on that.

I more made '3' and Kanter not scoring on that traveling, left-handed bank that started at the 3-point line and who knows what happens. As with most of the games this season between these teams, the gap is very small.

They got 5 shots each. Not sure what they can do when they don't get the ball.

 

[hoopsjock]

He's up to like 87% this year. He's automatic. Quite an improvement from his career < 75%.

I just jinxed him, didn't I?

Damn you! Jinxuza1!

 

[riverman]

They got 5 shots each. Not sure what they can do when they don't get the ball.

They give you the ball, defend and rebound...create turnovers which is what they did in my view..nobody complained about Bruce Bowen or Dennis Rodman not getting shots up...you need those guys in the playoffs and both Chief and Mo have gotten double figure scoring when we needed it. Last night we didn't need it nearly as much as them wearing down PG who has had record numbers scoring against us all season....he looked tired after game 1....I like that starting a best of 7...Dame said it all..he showed huge love to them and pointed out the stats aren't showing what they bring to this team..Rodney Hood and Seth Curry should be getting the shots, not Mo or Chief. I understand people want balanced scoring...I'm just really excited about how we won that game one today

 

[handiman]

kept them under 100 which I totally give credit to Chief and Mo for doing..they wore Paul George down....Mo was leaning on his bad shoulder all night and swiping at his shooting arm with force. PG didn't just miss shots he normally makes...he was tired from being chased all 4 qtrs. without a break

That doesn't quite fit with what actually happened, however. PG was better in the 4th than in the 1st. So...they exhausted him in the early stages but he got his second wind late?

 

[TBpup]

They got 5 shots each. Not sure what they can do when they don't get the ball.

Just the conversation I was having with a long time NBA insider how has or has had multiple relatives in coaching and front office positions around the league.

Dame/CJ took 45 of Portland's 86 shots (52%) and converted on 40% of those shots.

The rest of the team took 41 shots (48%) and converted on 44%. So it's not like the rest of the guys were bricking away so Dame/CJ had to force shots. He completely believes Portland needs to spread it out a bit more with Dame/CJ taking there fair share but not in such a large percentage. He mentioned that even if you get an open shot, how tough it is to hit that shot in a pressure situation when you may not have touched the ball in a shooting situation for 15 minutes of real time. That is a lot to ask.

He really liked how Portland moved the ball in the first quarter but wasn't a fan of the 'Hero/ISO' ball for most of the rest of the game.

Thought Kanter was perhaps the Player of the Game although commented about how the PnR's are different with Kanter vs Nurkic and how that affects what Portland does. Chuckled at how many steps Enes took on his last lay in.