BLAZERS EDGE Lillard makes Thunder relive nightmare
Dame Time was late arriving, but still early enough to remind the Thunder of the man who ended i ts season last April. It was Damian Lillard, after all, who helped accelerate there build of the franchise he faced Wednesday night.
Lilla rd, firing against the likes of Shai GilgeousAlexander and Chris Paul rather than Paul George and Russell Westbrook, didn't match t he memory of his 37- foot walk- off a season ago — the shot that sent the Thunder home in the first round of the playoffs.
But his late bar rage of 3-pointers pushed Portland past OKC, 102-99.
Lilla rd drained at rio of 3-pointers in a one-minute and 26-second span midway through the fourth quarter.
CJ McCollum made a three of his own in the brief stretch. An 83-80 Thunder lead evaporated into a 92-87 Thunder deficit.
The Thunder ( 1 - 4) held Lilla rd in check for three
quarters. The Portland point guard was 1-of-5 from deep before he snapped out of his mini slump.
The Trail Blaze rs, as they're accustomed to do, outshot the Thunder from behind the 3- point line. Portland drilled 17- of35 ( 48.6 percent) 3- point attempts. The Blazers made the same number of 3-pointers as 2-pointers, and shot better from behind the arc than they did within it.
Gua rd sMc Coll um and Rodney Hood and forwards Anthony Tolliver and Kent Bazemore combined to make 12-of-23 3-point attempts, many coming in transition.
The Thunder were holding opponents to 30.2 percent 3- point shooting before Wednesday night — the best 3-point defense in the NBA. Coach Bill y Donovan was asked before the game how many games his team needed to play for that number to be meaningful.
Four games, he said, was too small.
“I'm not so sure you can
take all the threes away, but I don't know if four games is enough of a sample size,” Donovan said prior to tip-off. “Different teams present different challenges.” Portland proved him right. “The 3-point line was the difference,” Donovan said after the game ,“and we didn't shoot it as well as they did, or as timely as they did.”
The Thunder was a dreadful 4- of- 27 ( 14.8 percent) from three against Portland. Forward Danilo Gallinari was responsible for three of the four long-range makes.
OKC is 1-4, just as it was to start the 2018-19 season. But while a turnaround was expected this time a year ago, the Thunder are embarking on a new frontier against a front-loaded schedule full of Western Conference giants.
Wednesday night repeated the reality of OKC's previous three losses to start the season. The Thunder were either tied or in the lead in the closing minutes against the Jazz, Wizards and Rockets before faltering when baskets are at a premium.
The same was true against the Blazers.
And then Lilla rd, albeit against an unfamiliar Thunder bunch, tore the scab off the wound he inflicted six months ago.