DENVER — It was a source of pride for Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers, the way they held their composure in a heated series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with their trash-talking of opponents and the officials.
In some ways, they believe that’s why they won the series; they kept their cool, they maintained their focus and concentrated on themselves and no one else.
In Monday’s 121-113 Game 1 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Lillard conceded the Blazers may have gotten distracted at times.
“I think it was a little bit more of that, probably more than we needed,” he said. “Maybe we needed to not say as much. Any time you see guys wanting it that bad you’re going to say stuff sometimes, but we might of had a little too much of that tonight.”
Lillard was more animated and agitated with the officials than he was at any point in the previous series, showing frustration after not getting calls driving to the rim. The Blazers also were visibly frustrated with some of the calls that went Nikola Jokic‘s way, who scored 37 points, featuring 12-of-12 from the free throw line.
After Game 4 against the Thunder, Lillard said he told his team not to talk to anyone unless they were wearing black and gray jerseys, and they held true to that through Game 5, as well.
Officiating has been under intense scrutiny this postseason, boiling over with Game 1 of the Rockets-Warriors series that had both teams upset after Golden State’s win. Chris Paul was ejected with four seconds left, which matched the record total for ejections in the postseason of 12, set in 1994 and 2003. The playoffs have averaged 6.3 ejections in 28 seasons since they were first tracked in the 1991-92 postseason. There were only three ejections in all of last year’s playoffs.
“It was a little bit of a heated game when it came to the whistle for us, we’d say something when something needed to be said,” Lillard said. “Nobody got a tech, so it wasn’t anything disrespectful. But when your season is on the line you’ve got to be willing to challenge what’s happening out there and try to put your team in the best position to win.”
Lillard led the Blazers with 39 points, and for a minute, it felt like a trademark “Dame Time” moment was on its way. A possession after he hit a straightaway 3 to cut the Nuggets’ lead to nine with 2:23 left, Lillard rolled off a high screen some 30 feet from the basket and was clear to launch another. Everyone in the building felt it; it was about to be a two possession game with two minutes to go, and Lillard was ticking.
Instead, Gary Harris stopped the clock, chasing down Lillard’s 3, blocking it from behind. Two more Jokic free throws 20 seconds later and the Nuggets had Game 1 in hand.
It didn’t help Lillard’s frustration with the amount of attention the Nuggets gave him basically any time he had the ball. It was a priority to try and get the ball of his hands, trapping and blitzing him in pick-and-rolls.
“I think it was more similar than I thought [it would be],” Lillard said of Denver’s defensive approach compared to OKC’s.
The Nuggets picked Lillard up full court almost at all times, using multiple defenders — Malik Beasley, Torrey Craig and Harris — to hound him. Lillard finished with six turnovers, and the Blazers had 18 as a team, two areas they feel were significant factors in losing Game 1.
“That was a huge part of it, I know I had six myself,” Lillard said. “As much as I have the ball, I’m responsible for valuing possessions. On the road, against a team that plays much faster, much better at home, especially when they get out in transition and shoot 3s and get the ball moving, just gave them too many opportunities. Twenty-three points off turnovers, that’s always going to hurt you.”