We all know if opponents are going to exploit Portland’s defense, the Blazers need Lillard and McCollum’s high-scoring performances in all of these seeding games in order for the Blazers to make it to the play-in games.With Lillard running the show; nobody should ever count out the Blazers. To think that the Blazers even had a shot at winning this one is what both Nurkic and Lillard were focused on following “We showed what we’re capable of doing,” Nurkic said after finishing with 30 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Bailey hadn't seen Meyers play in-person for over two years before that game. And down the stretch, I just thought they did a better job. When the schedule was released, Westgate had the Blazers odds of winning the NBA Finals at +15000 but now those odds have almost been cut in half at However, New Orleans is still viewed as the team most likely to make the postseason as the ninth seed during the play-in games, but its odds have decreased from +275 to +300 after a loss to Utah.The remaining odds for the eighth seed in the West are the Sacramento Kings at (+1100, previously +1200), San Antonio (+1300, previously +5000) who defeated the Kings on Friday, the Phoenix Suns (+6000, previously +20000) and the Dallas Mavericks (+50000) who are currently 7 games ahead of the Grizzlies in the standings. Gary Trent was huge with 21 points and a 7-11 effort from three.And again, Stotts used just eight players and rode his two guards hard.
Plus, for full coverage of Portland’s first seeding game make sure to follow Blazers guard Jaylen Adams (low back pain) is questionable for Sunday’s game vs. Boston. I thought he was very aggressive with Tatum. ''If anything, we'll take away (that) we played extremely well in the second half against a really good team,'' Portland coach Terry Stotts said. This time, his 25-foot 3-pointer gave Portland a 138-136 lead as time was winding down. Some teams have the luxury of kinda feeling their way through and getting through it, but not for us, and you saw the intensity tonight.”Portland's poor first half was too much to overcomeBlazers struggle to defend Boston's three point gameHIGHLIGHT: Blazers comeback falls short against BostonTrail Blazers' spectacular second-half offense betrayed by their defenseHow the Trail Blazers comeback stalled out, point to final possessionInstant Analysis: Trail Blazers big comeback to Boston Celtics falls shortMeyers Leonard stands for national anthem, doesn't think kneeling is disrespectfulHow to Watch, stream Blazers vs. Celtics, coverage begins at 10:00amEye on the 8: A perfect 72 hours for Portland's playoff chances after New Orleans lossesPortland Trail Blazers betting odds updated ahead of game vs Boston Will the Trail Blazers have enough gas in the tank for Boston Sunday afternoon?Trail Blazers postseason mentality effectively began with GrizzliesJusuf Nurkic plays with a heavy heart, is grateful for win with 'totally different team'Damian Lillard after win: 'We just let our experience take over down the stretch'Social media reacts to the Trail Blazers OT thriller against MemphisJusuf Nurkic's grandmother has COVID-19 and is in a comaInstant Analysis: Trail Blazers rally to win OT thriller, gain game on GrizzliesTrail Blazers and Grizzlies kneel in solidarity of social justice pregameTrail Blazers vs. Grizzlies: Latest betting odds, spread, pickHow to Watch, stream Blazers vs. Grizzlies, coverage begins at 10:30amTrail Blazers benefit as Zion Williamson's usage called into questionEye on the 8: How Pelicans loss impacts the Trail Blazers' playoff runJa Morant says NBA's play-in format isn't fair ahead of game vs. Blazers
And then it was Hood again. But the ball was inbounded to Lillard, who had carried his team through much of the second half. Now with the series tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 against the Nuggets, nobody expected them to play 68 minutes of basketball.To say these two teams left it all out on the floor that night would be an understatement.With CJ McCollum taking over late in the game and Rodney Hood coming up big in the fourth quarter and the final overtime, Hood hit a pull-up jumper to tie the game at 133 with just over a minute left in the fourth and final OT. Then, San Antonio was only 4 games behind Memphis and a 0.5 game behind Portland. Boston started out the game hitting 8-of-12 from three in the first quarter as the Celtics took a 37-24 lead. Game 7: POR 100, DEN 96 But in the end, Boston answered Portland's comeback. It’s a team game so you gotta have that contribution.”The bench provided needed support to the Blazers starting lineup that carried much of the load. "We dug ourselves a really deep hole in the first half,” Damian Lillard said. He passed to Nurkic, who hit a layup, but there were just 3.4 seconds to play and the Blazers, with no timeout left, still trailing by a point.Boston’s Gordon Hayward hit two free throws and Nurkic’s halfcourt heave in the general direction of Lillard went untouched out of bounds.It seemed, after a comeback win over Memphis Friday, the Blazers were headed for another exhilarating triumph. Portland allowed the Celts 10 free throws in the final four minutes and they made nine of them. Offensively he was outstanding. And that almost happened.Portland put together a big-time, second-half show at the offensive end -- 38 points in each of the final two quarters, fueled by a 13-23 effort from three-point range -- and took the game down to the final seconds.At that point, a couple of bad things happened to the Trail Blazers, who had a four-point lead with four minutes to play. That took a lot of out of us. Heat forward Meyers Leonard stood during the national anthem but wore a Black Lives Matters t-shirt. At this point that’s all we can ask for. He proved that once again Sunday when Portland squared off against the Boston Celtics. Trail Blazers Playoff Stats.