Blazers head coach Terry Stotts wanted the victory yesterday, and badly. He wasn’t about to waste the first of two chances to clinch the final playoff spot in the West by resorting to substitution patterns that sought to save his charges for a long postseason run. Instead, he leaned on the same predilections that allowed him to enjoy a stellar 6-2 slate in the seeding games and force the erstwhile eighth-seed Grizzlies to do battle with them for survival in the bubble. Which is to say he leaned on his five best players — hard.
Indeed, Stotts had compelled his top dogs to burn rubber for long stretches over the last month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Backcourt mates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum wound up one and two in minutes played on the Walt Disney World campus, with in-season pickup Carmelo. Anthony also in the top five. Jusuf Nurkic and super sub Gary Trent burned rubber for long stretches as well. Forget that the development placed pressure on the aforementioned Blazers, who had to overcome fatigue, injury, long layoffs, and personal loss to produce what was expected of them. And never mind that the predictability of the setup went both ways.
Perhaps Stotts felt he had no choice given the stakes involved. And, for all the potential pitfalls of his go-for-broke-now stance, he likely figured preservation in the face of uncertainty was foolhardy at best. In any case, there can be no arguing with the results. The Blazers showed their mettle by ousting the Grizzlies yesterday and booking a first-round date with the top-seed Lakers. Despite their heavy workload, they delivered. And, not surprisingly, Lillard was outstanding, making all the right decisions under double, even triple, coverage to underscore his status as Most Valuable Player of the seeding games.
Not that the Grizzlies didn’t make things hard. In fact, they looked ready to move on; they scored 42 points in the third quarter to go five up, and then employed aggressive defense to keep Lillard at bay in the fourth canto. There was just one problem; even as he produced zero field goals in the payoff period, the other Blazers stepped up. McCollum, supposedly slowed by a broken back, was exceptional as the release valve, netting 14 with an array of jumpers that included two against presumptive Rookie of the Year Ja Morant to stretch a one-point lead to five with a little over a minute to go in the match.
The Blazers will keep plodding on, with Stotts not about to change the way he rides his most trusted personnel. And why should he, when all they’ve done is prove him right? Seemingly forgotten after the Rockets unceremoniously dumped him last year, Anthony has been a revelation; yesterday, he had yet another crucial trey and a couple of free throws in the last 21 seconds to preserve the outcome. Trent has punctured the hoop from beyond the arc with virtual impunity, while Nurkic has been all they need, and more, at the five spot.
If there’s one thing the Blazers need to improve on, it’s their defense. Then again, they are who they are; given their makeup, it’s fair to argue that they aren’t built to compete from end to end. Its good, then, that they can light up the board like no other. They’re proud to hang their hats on offense, and, with Lillard at the forefront, they know they’ll always have a shot.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
