1st Round Game 1
7 years since the Lakers have been the
Western Conference Playoffs. Facing off
against familiar foe the Portland
Trailblazers. This game would be a back
and forth tussle between some of the
biggest names in the NBA.
The Blazers would get the Game 1 win
with a stellar performance from Dame
Lillard dropped 34 points and was able to
help his team overcome a Triple-Double
from Lebron and 28 points from Anthony
Davis. The Blazers would win a hard
fought game 100-93.
The game started with the Blazers
shooting from deep and getting physical
in the box forcing fouls that led to Free
Throws going a perfect 8-8 in the 1st
quarter.
The Lakers 3 point woes continued they
started the quarter 0-8 from the 3-point
line. The Lakers came out overplaying a
bit and kind of put themselves in a tough
spot going down 33-17 before a 9-2 run to
end the quarter.
In the 2nd quarter the Lakers settled down
getting a big effort from Dwight Howard
who was anchoring the defense and
keeping the Blazers honest. The Lakers
went on a 8-0 run after being down
40-30. The Lakers would finally take their
1st lead of the game in final moments but
it was short lived as the Blazers went into
halftime with a lead of 57-56.
In the 2nd half the Blazers got off to a
good start but the Lakers clamped down
both teams played good defense or just
had very poor shot selection regardless
there were not very many points scored
with both team combining for a total of 40
points which showed the how physical the
game it was.
The 4th quarter seemed like the Lakers
found their groove they jumped out to
12-3 run which gave the Lakers a 6 point
lead 87-81. It seemed as if the Lakers
would start to pull away and then came
the clutch shooting of Lillard and CJ
McCollum that would start the run that
would help the Blazers steal the game.
There was under 5 minutes left and the
Blazers would hit 4 3 pointers in a row
take a late 6 point lead.
Then Carmelo Anthony sealed the deal
late to put up the Blazers by 5 late. Lakers
has chances to win but 4 straight misses
free throws and missing their last 5 shots
of the game did them in. The Blazers take
an 1-0 lead in the best of Seven series of
the 1st round.
My 2 Cents
The Blazers warned that win with the will
to win. I have to give credit where credit is
due. The Lakers beat themselves in this 1
though with so many missed
opportunities.
The Lakers won the battle of the boards
and had double digit offensive rebounds
but missed a bunch of easy layups and
were looking for for fouls that weren’t
there.
The 3 point line has been the Lakers worst
enemy and it showed throughout this
game. The effort from the starting
backcourt was mediocre and hindered the
Lakers from really going full throttle.
The Lakers fans and critics pointed right
AD for this loss I don’t think that’s right he
scored 28 points with 21 coming in the 1st
half. I felt with how physical the game was
AD was avoiding a possible injury. He may
have overthought a bit but he isn’t the
reason why the Lakers lost.
Lebron is in full playoff mode but needed
to do more and needed to hit timely shots
which didn’t occur at the end but the
Triple double was something special. I
would say this will motivate Lebron to be
more aggressive early and try to carry
them to the win in Game 2 even though he
shouldn’t be doing all the work but he may
have to show out to show his squad how
serious the playoffs are.
The Lakers will need to get a good verbal
spanking in the film room by their
coaches. The adjustments are very easy
to make. The 1st thing is making the
Blazers shooters play defense and not
take breaks to conserve energy for
offense.
2nd thing the Lakers need to take the ball
to the rim and draw fouls get the Blazers
big men in foul trouble. 3rd thing more
playing time for Caruso and Kuz who
should be the starting back court they
present the best continuity with the Lakers
dynamic duo also Dwight Howard needs
more minutes but needs to reduce the
fouls as well but his aggression made the
Lakers loon real dominant at points in
Game 1.
The last thing the Lakers need to just
breathe and remember how well they did
this season and what was the reason for
that. This team is capable of doing
something very special in these playoffs
and possibly capture their 17th ring. This
should serve as motivation for the top
seed in the West.
Written By:Pop Dibiase
