We had three sweeps in the first round with one more possibility Monday night when the Memphis Grizzlies looked to break out the brooms against the Portland Trail Blazers. The problem with that is 1) the Blazers are a very good team at home and 2) the fractures to Mike Conley's face led to him having facial surgery that will keep him out for the time being. Without Conley in the Grizzlies' lineup, they not only lost a key offensive player, but they also lost a great defender against Damian Lillard.
The Blazers looked dead during this game several different times, but they fought back from an 80-70 deficit in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and finish the game on a 29-12 run to steal Game 4. The Grizzlies struggled to move the ball and struggled to stop dribble penetration at key points in the game when their defense couldn't set quick enough. Portland took advantage and now forces a flight back to Memphis.
Here are three things to take away from Grizzlies-Blazers Game 4:
1. LILLARD TIME MADE UP FOR A LACK OF LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
This was not LaMarcus Aldridge's night. Rather, it wasn't his second half. After a pretty strong showing in the first half with 10 points and seven rebounds (four offensive) on 5-of-11 shooting, Aldridge didn't make a shot in the second half until a put back with less than a second left on the clock. Aldridge went 1-of-11 from the field but did go 6-of-6 from the free throw line and collected four more offensive rebounds. With the game already decided, Nicolas Batum missed a free throw with less than a second remaining and Aldridge got the offensive board and scored before time expired to make sure he got a bucket.
The reason Aldridge's 6-of-22 shooting night didn't kill the Blazers was because Lillard Time was back at the Rose Garden (it will always be the Rose Garden to us). Lillard was ridiculous scoring 32 points on the night with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter to regain the lead and pull out the win. It wasn't just Lillard relying on his 3-point shot (1-of-5); he was attacking the basket and peppering the Grizzlies' defense with solid midrange jumpers within the soft spots of the defense.
2. NO MIKE CONLEY PROVED TO BE PRETTY COSTLY IN THIS GAME
When you take Conley out of this Grizzlies' rotation, it's pretty hard for the depth to hold up. Nick Calathes got the start and did a solid job of defending Lillard at times. He also moved the ball decently, even though he struggles to run their offense. A lot of it has to end up going through Marc Gasol and he doesn't have the same two-man game understanding or capabilities with Gasol that Conley has developed. When Beno Udrih came into the game, the Grizzlies just gave up too much ground on both ends of the floor and his scoring wasn't enough to overcome it.
You miss so much of Conley's presence on Lillard. Conley is so good at getting through screens in pick-and-rolls that it greatly affects how comfortable Lillard can be navigating those screens with the ball. Lillard could get lined up for shots much easier and split the hedging soft doubles in the PnR sets. We also saw Gasol's offense look much harder because he didn't have Conley playing off of him. All around, it's tough for the Grizzlies to win a game like that and we may need to see more of the old school Grit-N-Grind style of play to close it out.
3. C.J. MCCOLLUM AND MEYERS LEONARD SAVED THE DAY
How big were C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard in this game? Leonard battled Gasol down the stretch of this game and made it relatively difficult to get good positioning and shots up in the post when the Grizzlies needed a bucket. Leonard also rained a few 3-pointers in Portland, scoring 13 points (5-of-6 FG, 3-of-3 3FG) and grabbing 13 rebounds in 35 minutes off the bench. He was a plus-23 out there on the floor.
McCollum was an opportunistic attacker whenever the Grizzlies didn't quite seem ready to handle a drive to the hoop. He scored 18 points (8-of-12 from the field) off the bench and was a huge spark plug in the second half of the game. He had 11 of his 18 in the second half and seven of those came in the fourth quarter.
Game 5 is Wednesday in Memphis. The Grizzlies will try to finish the job and move on to the second round.
SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS
Game 1 – Sun April 19
Memphis 100, Portland 86
Game 2 – Wed April 22
Memphis 97, Portland 82
Game 3 – Sat April 25
Memphis 115, Portland 109
Game 4 – Mon April 27
Portland 99, Memphis 92
Game 5 - Wed April 29
Portland at Memphis
Game 6 * Fri May 1
Memphis at Portland
Game 7 * Sun May 3
Portland at Memphis
