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PORTLAND – Damian Lillard grabbed the ball during a stoppage in the third quarter of Saturday's third game and shot a short shot. He grabbed it again after firing the shot and hit a carpet before heading to the Portland Trail Blazers bench.
Lillard only wanted to see the ball go through the net, which is a rare event for the Trail Blazers star in the Western Conference finals.
Portland is threatened with being swept by the Golden State Warriors, in part because Lillard struggled to find his pace, while facing a constant barrage of double teams and pick and roll blitzes.
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"I think what they want, is that I'm doing the right game, and for me, I'm trying to do it as long as possible," said Lillard after scoring 19 points 5 out of 5 shots in the 110-99 defeat. Saturday. "You know, as long as I can do it, and we can stay in the game or have a lead as if we have the last two games, when I'm just doing the right games, and the guys are doing what they're supposed to do the weak side.
"But I think in the spirit of Golden State, they know that at some point, if we beat them, I will have to roll."
Lillard is averaging 20.3 points in the series, but he only gets 32.6% of the ground and has almost as many turnovers (14) as goals scored in the field (15).
"I'm tired of hearing people say that Lady has not stepped up," said Blazers Center Meyers Leonard, who scored 16 points in his first playoff start. "No. False He's our leader, he's a damn good player, he's part of the NBA's first team of stars this year, and the other players have to be ready to be screened. They must be ready to perform, play and help them relax the defense. [Lillard and CJ McCollum] get looks, they can shoot them down. It's as simple as that. "
Lillard suffered a separate rib in the second game, when Golden State's center, Kevon Looney, fell on him while he was fighting for a loose ball, said a league source. However, the source downplayed the impact of the coast on Lillard's performance, saying he often played with injuries.
The Warriors defense gave Lillard a hard time, forcing him to be a one-dimensional scorer. It counts only 5 of the 20 shots inside the 3-point line of the series.
Lillard excelled in the dribbling offense in the first two rounds of the playoffs, in which he averaged 7.4 ppg off the records, drawing 51 percent of those possessions, according to ESPN Stats. & Information. He averaged only 2.0 points per game on the Western Final, drawing 22% of those games.
In the third game, Lillard missed his five attempts in the restricted area. Draymond Green or Looney faced each shot.
"I mean, I've been trying to be aggressive," said Lillard. "I tried to force the action." The two guys stay with me, then Draymond hides behind them. </ P> <p> You know, you run into a defense wall, sometimes it's three defenders. It's hard because you're not always going to get a quality look, and then when you get a quality look and do not do it, it just makes things worse. "
As the Blazers' offense collapsed in the second half, Lillard attempted to take over. But he was only 3 points out of 12 of the half, and he scored nine of the Blazers' 33 points as the Warriors returned to the penalty after a 13-point deficit at half-time.
"Our attack has collapsed," said Portland coach Terry Stotts. "We missed some shots, we took hard shots, we did not move the ball too much, they scored, so we took it out, we did not have a transition. I said at the beginning of the series, to beat Golden State, you have to be able to score, so doing 33 in the second half will not do it. "
Green, the defensive anchor of Golden State, said the Warriors wanted to exhaust Lillard during a game.
"It was our plan and we did a good job," said Green. "Like Klay [Thompson] said, we still have a game to win and we know that Damian can be hot and change an entire series. We just have to stay locked up because we know that he is more than capable. "
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