Completely agree. I do appreciate the majority of people aren't blaming the refs. We lost last night, and that's fine. I expected this thing to go at least 6 anyway... just too evenly matched.
The play that stands out to me is when Wes challenged Harden in the 4th and drove that ball trying to get a foul. Blazers where down 2pts. Was that a foul? Maybe but it was still a bonehead play by Wes and from that point on is when the game went down hill. You can't go blaming the refs every time you loose a game.
You are wise to be optimistic as always. At the beginning of the year I was very optimistic, I knew this was going to be a great year. I think we'll win tomorrow and go all the way to the WCF.
More good news: Dame has torched (an albeit sick) Beverley all series. The numbers he's throwin up are just filthy, and with the defensive attention HOU is giving LA, Dame has single coverage for much of every game.
I think the blazers played that game knowing they are coming back to Portland on Friday, aka weren't really playing with urgency. Friday will be different they won't want to go back to Houston.
As Stott's said, "Portland plays best when their backs are against the wall". I expect us to rise up to the challenge and use this "URGENCY" to win tomorrow...
Some would argue it is.... We've already won two on the road... The likelihood of winning 3 is much harder than the likelihood of winning at home. I would argue this will be a "MUST WIN" for the Blazers, IMO.
Our backs aren't against the wall but the sense of Urgency will be similar. Could we go in and win game 7 in Houston sure... do we want to? Hellz no!
If Portland is the better team. And their spirit and heart is totally into it. They will win the series no matter what obstacle you put in front of them including a game 7 in Houston.
Problem is I'm not sure the Blazers are the better team At best even, with maybe a slight edge for Houston Blazers must win game 6
You better fucking believe it is. We're the underdog, and the favorite wins Game 7 nearly all the time (something like >70% of the time). We go into Houston tied 3-3 and we might as well just come with fishing poles in our luggage.