The Grizzlies dominated their way to a 1-0 series lead over the Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
The Memphis Grizzlies got ahead early and never looked back in a 100-86 Game 1 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. It was a classic defensive-minded effort by the Grizzlies, who now hold a 1-0 lead in the first-round series.
This was precisely how Memphis wanted to start the playoffs after finishing the regular season with some ups and downs. The team shot 44 percent from the floor as a team and committed just eight turnovers, looking comfortable in the raucous playoff atmosphere of the FedEx Forum.
For the Trail Blazers, on the other hand, this game continued an unfortunate trend since Wesley Matthews suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in early March. The Trail Blazers went just 10-12 without the sharpshooting wing to end the regular season, and with several other players sidelined, they're playing a shorthanded group.
That left the Trail Blazers to depend on Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge to create everything for the offense, and against a stout Memphis defense, that was no easy task. The two Portland stars combined for 48 points on just 18-of-55 shooting, and looked worn out trying to stop Memphis on the other end. If it weren't for a fourth quarter that saw Portland get back 10 points in a game already out of reach, this would've looked even worse.
The whole series likely won't be this lopsided, but the Grizzlies made a statement in Game 1. Unless the Trail Blazers can get some healthy reinforcements soon or make some significant changes with their current personnel, this likely won't be as close as the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup that it is.
3 things we learned
1. Mike Conley's health won't be an issue
The Grizzlies' starting point guard missed the final four games of the regular season due to a foot injury, but he didn't have any problems getting up for Game 1 against Portland. Conley finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 24 minutes, and arguably more importantly, he hounded Lillard on the defensive end throughout the first half. Point guard was supposed to be an area of strength for the Trail Blazers heading into this series, but Conley is showing he's healthy enough to make his usual two-way impact. That's very good news for a Memphis team that's long depended on his perimeter skills.
2. Portland can't go cold like this
Without the strong defense that Memphis boasts, the Trail Blazers can't afford to have bad shooting nights. That's exactly what happened Sunday as the team shot 34 percent from the field and 31 percent from three-point range. Whether it was Aldridge (13-of-34), Lillard (5-of-21) or C.J. McCollum (1-of-8), the team's top shooters all struggled as Memphis forced them into halfcourt sets. The Trail Blazers didn't convert a single fastbreak bucket until late in the fourth quarter because of the Grizzlies' low turnover total. When things get slower and the score totals dip below (or at) 100, that's playing right into Memphis' hands.
3. Don't ignore Beno Udrih
The Trail Blazers didn't give the Grizzlies' backup point guard the attention he deserved, and he torched them accordingly. Udrih set a playoff career-high with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and remarkably he managed to get most of them in just a few minutes. There's no way Udrih can keep this up for the remainder of the series, but Portland had trouble containing the 6'3 guard. If the Grizzlies can regularly get strong contributions from their second unit, whether it's Udrih or another backup like Vince Carter, that'll go a long way toward keeping the Grizzlies on point in a brutal Western Conference playoff bracket.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1H5I7aj
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