Westbrook Unstoppable As Thunder Takes Game 1
Oklahoma City 115, Portland 104
Anyone questioning whether Russell Westbrook is the league MVP should look no further than game 1 vs. the Trail Blazers. Dropping 38 points, 25 coming in the first half, Westbrook led his team to a blowout win to open the series.
Damian Lillard hit a pair of free throws to give Portland a 5-3 lead in the early moments, but that would be the only time Portland would be on top, as a 9-0 run set the tone for what would be a long night for the Blazers. They simply could not buy a stop, with OKC grabbing the offensive board on the rare occasion a shot wouldn't fall. It was a 42-29 Thunder lead after just one quarter.
Portland tried to make headway in the second, but despite some nice offensive sets, the defensive woes continued, with Lillard and McCollum finding themselves in early foul trouble as well. The Thunder lead was 16 at half, and it would swell to as many as 23 points. Portland's bench did what they could to keep the score from getting too out of hand, but their late run, sparked by guard Pat Connaughton was in vain. Cutting the deficit to nine points with a minute to go is simply too little, too late.
And such was an afternoon most Blazers fans would want to forget. Lillard and McCollum played fairly well, the latter scoring 17 points on just nine shots, but their inability to guard OKC in the first half did them in.
"Our defense was terrible, simple as that. We got away with it in the Houston series, but we won't get away with it here," commented Terry Stotts after the game. Stotts will hope his team's defense gets back on track two days from now when they face the Thunder again on this court. If not, this might be a quick series.
Thunder lead series 1-0.
Westbrook: 38 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, 17-30 FG, +20
Oladipo: 22 points, 7 assists, 3 steals
Kanter: 16 points, 6 rebounds (5 offensive)
Lillard: 25 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers, 5 fouls, 9-16 FG
McCollum: 17 points, 2 assists, 7-9 FG
The Spurs surprise the Warriors at the Oracle, Channing Frye goes off against the Pistons, and Anthony Davis's game winning tip-in gives the Pels the 1-0 series lead.
San Antonio 103, Golden State 90 (SA leads 1-0)
LaMarcus Aldridge: 22 points, 14 rebounds
Cleveland 110, Detroit 105 (CLE leads 1-0)
Channing Frye: 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-17 FG, 4-7 3pt
New Orleans 91, Philadelphia 90 (NO leads 1-0)
Anthony Davis: 28 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks
Late Comeback Falls Short As OKC Takes 2-0 Lead
Oklahoma City 101, Portland 97
Down 17 points in the fourth quarter, Damian Lillard had just 9 points on a dismal 3-19 from the field. Then, the law of averages came in at just the right time - well, almost the right time… Up just three points with a minute to go against a red-hot Blazers team, Russell Westbrook dribbled the ball up the court in the nearly silent arena and calmly sank the three pointer that would lock up a 2-0 series lead.
After the shootout in game 1, this match was a change of pace, with both teams struggling to score in the first quarter. Despite Lillard's struggles, Portland's offense started to get things going in the second quarter thanks to McCollum and Davis, but Westbrook kept his team in it on the other end. The Thunder pulled away late in the third quarter. An unfortunate sequence of events that saw Lillard brick several threes and Aminu get fouled out on a BS loose ball foul call saw OKC build a big lead faster than you can say "Ilyasova".
Portland didn’t get their first points of the fourth quarter until nearly four minutes in, and by then the deficit was 17. Damian Lillard, who was 1-12 from beyond the arc at that point, decided to keep shooting, and it finally paid off, with four consecutive long range bombs going in. Noah Vonleh and CJ McCollum joined in on the fun as well, but after the Westbrook dagger, it was clear that it would be too little, too late. After some clutch free throws from Oladipo, this one was in the books: Thunder 101, Blazers 97.
As per usual, Westbrook was the man, reminding everyone why he was the MVP with 38 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Kanter and Adams contributed triple doubles, but outside of those three, the Thunder weren't great, at least offensively. Lillard had 23 points and 13 assists, 14 of those points coming in the third, while McCollum chipped in 21, and Ed Davis posted a double double.
Down two games to none, the Blazers will likely need to win both games in Portland to have a realistic shot at winning this thing, though the Thunder are no strangers to blowing 3-1 leads themselves.
Thunder lead series 2-0.
Westbrook: 38 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 15-27 FG
Steven Adams: 14 points, 14 rebounds
Lillard: 23 points, 13 assists, 7-24 FG
McCollum: 21 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, 8-19 FG
Davis: 11 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks
Aldridge and the Spurs continue to dominate, now up 2-0 with a pair of games in San Antonio coming up! Meanwhile, Cleveland blows out the Pistons, and Ben Simmons's minimalist triple double knots the series for Philly.
San Antonio 122, Golden State 105 (SA leads 2-0)
LaMarcus Aldridge: 18 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Cleveland 118, Detroit 100 (CLE leads 2-0)
Kyrie Irving: 34 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Philadelphia 109, New Orleans 97 (Series tied 1-1)
Ben Simmons: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists