Sports always carry a richly psychological component, but for the Portland Trail Blazers, the between-the-ears reality of high-stakes competition was never more profound than on Wednesday night.
In Game 5 of the Western Conference first round against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Trail Blazers figured to win. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were out. J.J. Redick was far from 100 percent in terms of health and mobility. The table was set for Terry Stotts’s team to take a 3-2 lead home to Oregon for a close-out Game 6 on Friday night. However, before arriving at that point, the Blazers had to walk over the hot coals of Game 5 — not just the pressure of the series itself, but the added pressure of suddenly being the favorite to win the best-of-seven slugfest.
Portland spent the entirety of the NBA season as a team which would have handsomely succeeded merely by making the playoffs. With CP3 and Blake on the floor, no rational person would have expected the Blazers to win this series. Some predicted Portland, but anyone who did would not — could not — have denied that such a selection was an upset pick.
Wednesday night — in a city which has forced many people to learn how to become adults, usually as they try to break into some corner of the entertainment industry — the Trail Blazers faced their own grow-up moment: Could they handle the status of being a favorite… but on the road, against a desperate opponent, in what had become a best-of-three series, little more than a coin flip?
It took nearly three and a half quarters, but the Blazers — facing this rite of playoff passage — were able to show that they were worthy of the opportunity they had received. Portland made the leap from fear to forcefulness, from uncertainty to understanding. With the Game 5 hurdle cleared, the Blazers host the eroded Clippers in Game 6 and should have more than enough resources needed to plunge the dagger into the NBA’s most snake-bitten franchise.
Damian Lillard scores 16 in 4th as @TrailBlazers pull away in #CLIPPERSvBLAZERS Game 5!https://t.co/qdjGzdaU5c
— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2016
The Blazers’ best player, Damian Lillard, brought home this victory with a majestic 16-point fourth quarter. It was made possible by Stotts in one respect:
Great move by Terry Stotts to keep Damian Lillard in to start the fourth quarter and allow him to get going against the Clippers bench.
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) April 28, 2016
Yet, the real MVP of this game for the Blazers — the man who enabled Lillard’s fourth quarter to become as significant as it turned out to be — was C.J. McCollum.
If McCollum hadn’t steadied the Blazers’ offense in the first half and then in the third quarter, Portland would have trailed by a noticeable working margin (not 15 points, but probably six to nine) entering the fourth quarter. McCollum’s virtuosity enabled Portland to get through this series- (and season-) defining test with only one quality quarter from Dame:
CJ McCollum scores 27, leads @TrailBlazers to 108-98 Game 5 victory! #CLIPPERSvBLAZERShttps://t.co/URy1yr4ORC
— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2016
Lillard certainly answered the crunch-time call the way a superstar is supposed to, but McCollum — who has not yet attained Lillard’s superstardom — in many ways provided the even bigger lift for Portland in Game 5. He did what leaders regularly do, especially in the playoffs: He anchored his team in a turbulent moment, being the source of calm in the middle of the storm. After a first half in which DeAndre Jordan defended the rim with relentless energy and considerable skill, it was McCollum who broke down the Clippers’ defense in the third quarter. He opened up the court and changed the tenor of the game. He demanded enough attention that as the second half moved along, Allen Crabbe was able to get free for numerous open shots which he buried, aiding the Blazers down the stretch.
Portland hit 13 of its first 17 field goals in the fourth quarter, building a 105-88 lead. The Blazers missed their last six field goals, but the game had already been won by then. That blistering 13-of-17 line was mostly the product of Lillard in an immediate sense, but McCollum’s work late in the third and early in the fourth truly enabled Portland to slap 37 points on the Clippers in the final 12 minutes of Game 5.
Portland entered Los Angeles Wednesday night as boys, in the larger context of the playoffs. This team, without veterans Nic Batum or LaMarcus Aldridge, had to show it could take charge of a playoff series with this newer, younger cast of characters.
The Trail Blazers passed this Hollywood audition. Their rite of passage in the cutthroat world of the NBA is at hand. One more win in Game 6 — this time at home — will make that rite of passage complete.
