![]() ![]() Slumps happen, and bad match-ups are part of why it is so difficult to win in the playoffs. Lillard, at least, will be a part of Portland's future, and that is a good thing for them. With Wes Mathews literally limping into free agency and fellow starters Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo also uncertain to return, the future of the Trailblazers is troublingly murky, and the near future-that is, their prospects in these playoffs-isn't looking especially bright. No one but Aldridge and his agent knows what the big man is going to do this offseason, but after a hellish Game 1, anonymous teammates were whispering again about a potentially franchise-derailing defection to his home state of Texas. This is a big problem, and not just for the next few weeks. Which means Memphis can gobble up LaMarcus Aldridge possessions, forcing the only shooter on the floor to take more shots than he ever has before. Lillard doesn't make the Grizzlies pay for it, not because he won't but because he can't. "Did… did it go in? It went in, right?" - Photo by Justin Ford-USA TODAY SportsĪnd so Conley finds himself drifting off of Lillard, into the paint, to crowd Blazers bigs and rest his gimpy hoof. Unless Lillard can start shooting dramatically better, that's going to be very hard for his team to overcome. So, as the Blazers' offense becomes more and more dependent on Lillard drives, those drives become less effective at creating good opportunities for other players, which is crucial to how Terry Stotts wants his offense to work. About 68 percent of the points the Blazers have scored on those drives are coming from Lillard's shots alone, compared to just 56 percent in the regular season, again according to NBA.com. He's actually driving even more than he did in the regular season, when he was fifth overall, but his efficiency has gone in the toilet. He's among the league leaders in total drives and points on drives in the playoffs, but there's a big asterisk there. ![]() One thing Lillard is doing a lot of, as you might hope and expect, is driving to the basket. None of his four assists to this point in the series have led to any free throws for his teammates the percentage of made baskets that come from his set-ups are hovering around Aron Baynes-level, according to NBA.com. So far, his pass per game numbers are actually higher than they were in the regular season, but they're leading to potential points at about half the rate. Lillard has never been an assist machine on the order of Chris Paul or Steve Nash, but he is a willing passer. Blazers not named Damian or LaMarcus have attempted just seven free throws so far, and all of them came in Game 1. Perhaps more importantly, those Lillard free throws are a huge proportion of the team's attempts overall in this series. I know, it's like "where did they find all these pictures of Damian Lillard looking upset?" - Photo by Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports It's easy-and, to an extent, fair-to chalk the offensive slump up to the Wes Matthews-shaped hole in the Blazers backcourt and the buzzsaw that is the Grizzlies perimeter defense. (It seems unfair to note that Lillard is dead last among all players in shooting percentage to this point, but I trust you knew it intuitively.) Conley, for his part, has shot merely 55 percent from the floor, second among starting point guards this postseason. ![]() Grizzlies backup Beno Udrih had a perfectly competent year as an extended fill-in for Mike Conley, but he's looked positively Maravichian in this matchup it takes nothing away from Udrih to note that any NBA guard would do well against Lillard's present screen-door-hanging-on-one-hinge defensive approach. ![]() His shot has abandoned him, and his already lackluster defense has regressed to comical levels. Right now, though, Lillard looks uncharacteristically meek and quite reasonably frustrated. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |