Portland went into Phoenix pretty confident. They'd won there before. Plus, the Suns made a pivotal mistake in the first game of not using Hill on Miller. On top of that, Portland was free and loose because they knew they just had to take one of two games in Phoenix. Add all that up and Portland really wasn't facing much adversity in that game. In these last two games all kinds of things have gone wrong (obviously). What we've missed more than anything else is the ability to have a go-to scorer in the first quarter when the Suns rattle off a 10-0 run. Without Roy, there's nobody there to right the ship and give the team somebody to rally around. It's every man for himself, with no faith at all that the plan the coach drew up is going to work. That's why superstars are so critical in the playoffs. Normal players wilt under pressure. The great ones feast on it. Phoenix is blowing us out because they have two superstars and we have none.
Losing Nico was the straw that broke the camel's back. We have three mismatch advantages over Phoenix: Our physical big men (GO and Joel), Brandon and Nico. Three of them aren't playing and one is severely hampered. In the end, playoff basketball is about matchups and we're on the short end of pretty much all of them right now. This isn't about Nate or about heart, it's about the number of body blows a franchise can take, and we've taken one too many. This has been an amazing season, but one I hope I never have to experience again.
That is a lame excuse. If the Chicago Bulls, who are by far the worst team in the playoffs, can take the fight to Cleveland, who is the best team in the playoffs, Portland can certainly muster more effort out than they got last night. Losing while putting out a good effort is acceptable. Getting bitchslapped at home and putting out no effort is not acceptable.
Yep. It's been an amazing season. I'm not sure I'd say "I hope I never have to experience again," though. I'm saving that for this: There are a lot of teams who would've loved to get 50 wins and into the playoffs, and have the promise of Oden, Batum, Roy, Miller and Aldridge dangling out there for next year.
