Clippers Miss Opportunity, Fall To Blazers 105-96

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: March 30, 2018

With the playoffs looming and the Los Angeles Clippers on the outside looking in, the team would need some help if they were going to have any chance of getting in. Friday night they got all the help they needed. With practically every team in front of them dropping a game and giving them a chance to move within just 1 game of one of the last seeds.

However, none of that matters if the Clippers couldn’t get a win against the Trailblazers in Portland. Currently sitting in the top 4 in the Western Conference, the Blazers aren’t exactly a walkover.

The game got off to a rather inauspicious start with both teams struggling to find the bottom of the net. Los Angeles started 0-6 from the field while Portland started 0-4. Both teams did manage to get things going offensively as time wore on though. Los Angeles had an angry DeAndre Jordan to thank for their awakening as Jordan looked to be taking his frustrations with the referees out on the rims early on.

Austin ➡ Tobias ➡ DJ = SLAM DUNK!!!!! 👀pic.twitter.com/7iIt2VMnKK

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 31, 2018

Jordan put together yet another double-double before his night was over, finishing with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

For Portland it was probably not who you’d expect, Zach Collins. Collins was an absolute monster in the paint and seemingly was jamming the ball home every time down the court. Collins closed out his night going an impressive 7-10 from the field, and scoring 15 points.

The game remained close in the opening quarter but after that it was all Blazers. Damian Lillard started to get his groove going despite a poor night shooting from beyond the arc. Lillard would end up with 17 points and 11 assists. Lillard got some help from CJ McCollum who finished with 13 points and Jusuf Nurkic who would up with a double-double, getting 21 points and 12 rebounds by the time this one was over.

Lou Williams tried to singlehandedly will Los Angeles back into the game in the fourth quarter but his game-high 23 points on the night wouldn’t be enough. Portland came out on top 105-96.

While mathematically the Clippers still have a chance of making the playoffs, this game significantly decreased those odds. Los Angeles is now 2 full games back of the eighth seed with just 6 games remaining.

The difficult schedule to close out the year continues for the Clippers with the Indiana Pacers up next on Sunday back at Staples Center.

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