Trail Blazers at Grizzlies
The Portland Trail Blazers staved off elimination and now attempt to get
back into the series when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies in
Wednesday’s Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round series.
Fourth-seeded Portland was 0-7 this season against fifth-seeded Memphis
before rallying for a 99-92 victory on Monday.
The Trail Blazers took advantage of the absence of Memphis point guard Mike Conley to record the Game 4 victory. Conley underwent surgery to repair multiple facial fractures that he suffered in Saturday’s game and isn’t expected back in this series. “We don’t know a lot but the procedure was good and we’ll see how it goes from here,” Memphis coach Dave Joerger told reporters. “We’ve been trying to patch it together all year. We’ve had a lot of injuries and one thing this team has done this season is that it’s stuck together.” Portland star Damian Lillard had his top game of the series with a playoff personal-best 32 points.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, KGW (Portland), SportSouth (Memphis)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS: Shooting guard Arron Afflalo (shoulder) missed all five of his shots in Game 4 and backup C.J. McCollum stepped up with his second straight strong effort by scoring 18 points. McCollum poured in 26 points in Game 3 and Memphis has been unable to defend him as he has made 16-of-26 field-goal attempts during the last two games. “The first two games, I came out kind of shaky and played like a younger player, making mistakes and not making open shots,” McCollum told reporters. “I just wanted to show my teammates that I could play in a big game and help them out. I was aggressive, trying to get to the cup.”
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES: Memphis saw its chance for a sweep evaporate by blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead on Monday and succumbing meekly to the Trail Blazers. Center Marc Gasol scored 21 points and was highly disappointed with his team’s collapse and sharply critiqued his teammates. “We stopped competing and we tried to trade buckets with them, and we played a little bit too fast,” Gasol told reporters. “We did not execute as well as we could have. They took away the momentum that we built and got away with a win.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Trail Blazers reserve C Meyers Leonard emerged with 13 points and 13 rebounds on Monday after going scoreless in Game 3.
2. Memphis SG Courtney Lee is averaging 19 points on 21-of-30 shooting over the past three games.
3. Portland C Chris Kaman (ankle) has missed two games in the series but is expected to be available for Game 5.