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Blazers Outlast Clippers 104-96

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Historically for the Los Angeles Clippers when it rains it pours. Without question yesterday’s trade of superstar Blake Griffin got this storm off to a thunderous start. Tuesday night in the Clippers matchup with the Portland Trailblazers, it looked like the team was left out in that storm without an umbrella.

With Blake Griffin gone and incumbent players Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris and Boban Marjanovic not yet ready to suit up, Tuesday’s game against the playoff-bound Blazers was already an uphill battle. A small silver lining for Los Angeles was the return of the rarely seen Danilo Gallinari who missed 25 games with a glute injury. Playing in just hit 12th game this season, Gallinari needed to play his way into shape and it wasn’t the prettiest of games for the 29 year-old Italian. Gallinari finished the game with 15 points along with 5 rebounds.

Gallinari was far from the only Clippers player to struggle in the team’s first game sans Griffin. Lou Williams has been scorching hot as of late and the team would need his production on the offensive end if they were going to have any chance against the impressive Blazers guard duo of Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum. Williams struggled to find his rhythm and went 5-26 from the field finishing with just 20 points and 5 assists. Williams frustrations boiled over in the fourth quarter as he received a technical after missing his 15th consecutive shot.

Despite their struggles, Los Angeles was able to get some production from their bigs as DeAndre Jordan and Montrezl Harrell hustled against a tough Blazers frontcourt. Jordan closed out with a team-high 19 rebounds while also managing 8 points. Meanwhile Harrell provided a spark off the bench and finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds.

With the Los Angeles offense stumbling, Lillard delivered the knockout blows in this game. Lillard was rolling with 28 points going 5-9 from beyond the arc. Lillard managed to help his teammates get buckets also, contributing 7 assists.

A late surge by the Clippers wouldn’t be enough and the Trailblazers would come out on top 104-96.

An expected result against a difficult opponent during an emotional week for the Clippers. The team will hope to change the tides in their next game against the Chicago Bulls Saturday.

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