Community Picks: Los Angeles Clippers 0% vs Portland Trail Blazers 0%

Last time they came home, Portland and Charlotte were still just trying to win a game. After engineering big turnarounds with three straight victories, the Trail Blazers and Hornets will be playing for spots in the second round when they host Game 6s on Friday night. The tough part for them, as Clippers coach Doc Rivers says, is not getting too caught up thinking ahead with the opportunity they have. Continue to Article

April 29, 2016 2:18:am EST

The short-handed Los Angeles Clippers simply ran out of gas. The toll of losing Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, the emotions it extracted and a fourth-quarter scoring binge by Damian Lillard were too much for the Clippers to handle Wednesday. CJ McCollum had 27 points, and Lillard scored 16 of his 22 points in the final period as the Portland Trail Blazers earned a 108-98 victory over the Clippers to take a 3-2 lead in a Western Conference quarter-final matchup on Wednesday at Staples Center. Continue to Article

April 28, 2016 2:36:am EST

The Los Angeles Clippers had about as negative an experience as a playoff team can in Monday's Game 4 at the Portland Trail Blazers, losing to fall into a 2-2 series tie and seeing stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin succumb to serious injuries . Considered favorites in this first-round series and a strong contender to defeat the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors in the next round just a few hours prior, the Clippers instead were forced to face harsh new realities and the likelihood of an early exit. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr:  The best slams from all of basketball] By many standards, then, the Clippers exceeded expectations in Wednesday night's Game 5 at Staples Center. They just didn't do enough to win, dropping it 108-98 to the Blazers in a result that showed much of what L.A. lacks without its two biggest names. It took Portland some time to seize control of what looked like a stunner early, but their stars eventually impressed themselves upon the proceedings and carried the Blazers to a 3-2 advantage with a chance to advance to the conference semifinals with a win at home on Friday. As usual, Portland's fortunes depended largely on the play of point guard Damian Lillard. He struggled early, missing all five of his first-half field goals attempts as the Blazers sputtered to a 50-45 halftime deficit. But Lillard responded with a much improved second half and put the game away in the fourth, scoring 16 of his 22 points in the period to lock up a pivotal win.   Meanwhile, the Clippers offense could not find any consistency after the break. In fact, they failed to score for the first 5:36 of the third quarter and didn't register a field goal until after the halfway point of the period. Those issues allowed the Blazers to open the second half on a 10-0 run. The Clippers were able to tie it back up at 71-71 at the end of the third, but the Blazers made it clear that they would be able to take advantage of their superior talent late. - - - - - - - Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @FreemanEric Continue to Article

April 28, 2016 2:33:am EST