I've long been under the belief that the Blazers will not go very far with a Dame/CJ back court the way they play right now. Tonight there were more prime examples of why. Portland made this game close with Curry sitting out but in the end, Dame couldn't even get a shot off in about the last 5 minutes because....Klay Thompson. But that wasn't the reason.
Two prime examples occurred near the middle of the 2nd quarter, both involving Noah Vonleh. In the first, there was a switch out high and Noah promptly took the 6'7", stick figure Livingston right to the rim and waited for a pass....that never came. Instead he watched a number of dribbles and then a contested, step-back jumper that missed.
Just a trip or two later, Vonleh set multiple screens as the Blazer guards ran the weave. Finally there was a mix up and Vonleh rolled to the basket completely free of a defender anywhere near him. Did he get an immediate pass to him for an easy dunk? Yeah, you would think but he didn't even get a look. Instead, it was another contested, missed jumper and Golden State was off to the races.
The same thing happened with Mo' Harkless and Allen Crabbe.