The Blazers got off to the good start they needed. They got the shots to fall. They even got a few starts. There was the urgency a team down 3-0 in a series needed to have as Portland won 103-92 to extend the series one more game and back to San Antonio.

Damian Lillard scored 25 points and took over the game early on to set the tone for Portland. He had plenty of help with the Blazers bench awakening from its -100 in three games slumber. Will Barton scored 17 points off the bench to keep Portland pace. San Antonio did not have its usual second quarter runaway this time.

The Trail Blazers shot 43.9 percent from the floor but were up around 60 percent in the first quarter. They held the Spurs to just eight fast break points.

San Antonio just was not quite itself.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 14 points and had only one assist. That is not going to cut it.

This was Portland’s night. They get to play on.

Experience is a funny thing. You don’t know you have it until you need it and it often doesn’t matter until it does.

Randy Wittman in his postgame press conference would not sit there and blame his team’s relative youth as the Wizards let a 16-point lead slip and watched Paul George lead the Pacers to a 3-1 series lead with a come-from-behind 95-92 victory at Verizon Center.

Paul George put in a superhuman 39-point effort. He was the All Star and MVP candidate everyone imagined he would be after last year’s stellar Playoff performance. This was Paul George at his best. He made every big play the Pacers needed.

That is clearly the difference between Indiana and Washington right now. The Pacers have the players to put their head down and find a way to grind out a win. The Wizards still have to learn that skill.

Their lead was lost when their young stars succumbed to the pressure. Their lead was built behind the surprising play from Drew Gooden and Al Harrington. Two veterans no one saw contributing int he Postseason at the beginning of the year. Harrington had 11 points and Gooden had 10.

It comes down to your stars though. And Washington’s struggled. John Wall had 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting and Bradley Beal had 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Washington needed a bit more, from Wall especially. Because when push comes to shove in these games, it matters what your best players do.

Indiana’s best player rose to the occasion. And Indiana remains right on track for a Conference Finals berth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPrgDS0Rk5Q

The Clippers trailed by 16 points in the fourth quarter against a Kevin Durant playing at his All-Star, MVP best and a team that was flowing and getting its job done.

Then the offensive flow stopped. The Clippers porous defense was able to hone in on Durant and Westbrook as they went one-on-one and convert the misses into fast break opportunities. The 3-point shooting started to come around and Darren Collison, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford turned the game around for the Clippers.

Los Angeles came storming back for a 101-99 win. The Thunder were left frustrated and pointing their fingers at each other a bit as the Clippers turned the series on its head. Los Angeles gave up 40 points to Durant and 27 points to Westbrook. But no one else on Oklahoma City was able to do much more.

The Clippers took those misses right back at the Thunder. Paul had 23 points and 10 assists. Blake Griffin had 25 points. But it was Darren Collison scoring 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and Jamal Crawford adding 18 off the bench. They had the energy and the will to push their way back into the game. That was what it ultimately takes to win playoff games. The Clippers fed off of every mistake and had the patience and confidence and, most importantly, trust to come back together.

Los Angeles should count itself fortunate to be tied in this series. Oklahoma City should be frustrated that it is not up 3-1. This feels like a whole new series. Oklahoma City is capable of dominating for nearly 40 minutes. But the Clippers can stay within striking distance and put on an onslaught of points and stops if the Thunder are not careful and focused.

This is a series again.

The end is near for Portland. There is no other way around it to say this. The sweep seems to be on and the Blazers just are not in the same league as the Spurs.

San Antonio opened up a big lead once again with 60 points in the first half yet again. Portland’s bad starts have dug it a hole that the team cannot burrow itself out of. Tony Parker scored 29 points, knifing in and out of the paint with ease for the Spurs. It was the same kind of first half, killer performance that Parker has provided San Antonio throughout the series. Portland has no answer.

Yes, the Blazers cut into the 20-point lead and got it to single digits. But every run was met with a Spurs team getting back its focus and forcing the Blazers into a mistake. Portland could not get over the hump.

And while San Antonio had several major contributions off the bench, Portland played its starters more than 37 minutes with Will Barton leading the team with 11 minutes off the bench. The Blazers had just six bench points. That is not enough support.

LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews had 20-plus points each. That scoring was not enough. It will take superhuman effort from Aldridge or Lillard or some more help to get the Blazers in the same conversation with the Spurs.

They have one more chance to do that Monday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q9W5eKpqeg

The Brooklyn Nets handed the Heat their first Playoff loss of the season behind a barrage of 3-pointers and a defense that baited the Heat into mid-range jumpers that clanked off the rim time and time again. The final score was a dominant 104-90 victory that felt wider than that final margin.

The Nets hit 15 of 25 3-pointers and got good looks from beyond the arc with some breathtaking ball movement. Mirza Teletovic had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Andray Blatche scored 15 points off the bench. The effort from the Nets’ role players was absolutely critical and will remain so if the Nets want to climb back into this series. Joe Johnson’s statement that the Nets role players are better than the Heat’s might very well be true.

The real key to having any chance against Miami is slowing down LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. James dominated the first half of the game and finished with 28 points and 10 free throw attempts. In the second half though, he was content to shoot mid-range jumpers and did not attack the rim as aggressively. That slowed Miami’s offense and made it far too stagnant.

It also did not help that Miami could not force a turnover on Brooklyn. That is how the Heat best generate their offense.

It may take another superhuman shooting performance at home for the Nets to even this series up Monday night.

The Thunder took a 2-1 series lead with a gutsy 118-112 win over the Clippers at Staples Center on Friday night. Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Russell Westbrook took over the game late for 23 points and 13 assists. Oklahoma City and Los Angeles played within eight points of each other the entire game with the Thunder finally taking an eight-point lead late in the game.

Los Angeles could not get over the hump at the end and make the defensive stops to make the game tight. Every Clippers score was answered in kind by the Thunder, whether it was Kevin Durant pulling up for a jumper or Westbrook aggressively attacking the rim or pulling up for three. This was one of Oklahoma City’s best offensive performances of the postseason.

Blake Griffin had 34 points, Chris Paul had 21 points and Jamal Crawford added 20.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zbZeHleUsE

What more needs to be said? The Pacers came, they shut the Wizards down and they regained home court advantage.

Washington shot just 32.9 percent and barely broke 60 points, scoring 63 in the 85-63 loss. The Wizards had the lead in the first quarter and then slowly watched their shots continue to miss and the Pacers continue to build more and more confidence.

Roy Hibbert put in another solid game with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Paul George had 23 points to lead the Pacers. Bradley Beal had 16 points and John Wall had 15 points for the Wizards, who fall behind 2-1 in the series and cede home court advantage to the Pacers.