McCollum’s and Lillard’s Combined 75 Just Isn’t Enough
The Portland Trail Blazers’ two superstars Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum combined for a total of 75 points, and it still wasn’t enough as the Golden State Warriors ousted them 121-109 to take game 1 of the series.
Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant almost matched Portland’s dynamic duo, netting in a combined total of 61 points, allowing them to pull away in the fourth quarter for the victory.
Draymond Green almost had the first 5×5 in in league playoff history (a 5×5 is when a player records 5 categories with at least 5 things in each category) however, he was two steals shy.
In regards to the closeness of the game up until the fourth quarter, Draymond Green who finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, five blocks and three steals, said, “Once we stopped scrambling around and started stopping them two,” he told reporter Lisa Salters. “it all clicked.”
The Blazers were without Jusuf Nurkic, who injured his leg late in the season, rendering him unable to play in Game 1. Because of his absence, Portland needed their backcourt to be explosive, and that’s exactly what it was. Lillard and McCollum brought the heat, but they fell short.
After today’s game, it’s hard to picture Portland winning the series considering the only two players who put in work were Lillard and McCollum, although crazier things have happened. Only time will tell and if the rest of the Blazer’s squad don’t step up soon, they could be in big trouble.