Game 1 Rd 1 Portland vs OKC 12:30pm Sunday KATU

[monopoman]

Thunder threw 4-32 from 3point line and still managed to stay close in this game..
Doesn't look much encouraging though.

Anyway I was ready to see another clean sweep in this series so it's nice to see Blazers being able to lead a whole game right from the beginning.

The FT was huge for them they performed better from the FT line. Their bench was also huge for them all Thunder bench players except Schroeder with a + in the game.

[GreenRiddler]

Why are people acting like we played a great game? We have almost 20 tos. And shot 41% from the field lol.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Seemed a little quick to call the TO

[DusterBuster]

Longest GD 5 seconds ever...

[GreenRiddler]

Not to mention our bench was bad. This was by no means our best game and we still won.

[monopoman]

Seemed a little quick to call the TO

A turnover there is very costly might as well play it safe.

[Oneluckbox]

BIG WIN!!!

[The Sebastian Express]

Even if we lose the series, so happy to get the game one win because that just gives us a chance for the rest instead of feeling doomed from the start.

[monopoman]

A wire to wire win almost!!!! WOOO!!! Even when Thunder tried to make a run we saw big plays to keep that lead.

[DusterBuster]

HELL YA!

I hope this helps them shake that monkey off their back about the playoff losses.

Definitely feeling better about this matchup after today!

[DusterBuster]

Even if we lose the series, so happy to get the game one win because that just gives us a chance for the rest instead of feeling doomed from the start.

Exactly. They don't have this hanging over their head mentally now.

[GreenRiddler]

This is why I am glad we avoided Gobert. Kanter has a shot vs slow plodding centers like Adams.

[Klinky]

I think everyone knew this was going to be a tight series. Great to get a win on home court. Great to not have a 20 point loss at home. A Game 1 win makes more a more optimistic outlook on the series as a whole.

Hopefully win or loss, all further games of the series are competitive.

[Oneluckbox]

So thats obviously a game you have to win. OKC shot so poorly that if you lose that game, you're in real bad shape for the rest of the series. Blazers can definitely play better too. 18 turnovers, a lot of them unforced by OKC, 18 offensive boards, a lot of them just out working the Blazers. Clean that up and its looking good.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

at least it wont be a sweep

[Sinobas]

That was the scrappy game I expected between these two teams. We out shot them from three 44% to 15%, which would usually translate into a more comfortable victory. But hey, first playoff win in awhile =)

[monopoman]

I wonder what the Blazers record in the playoffs is with home court advantage and winning game 1.

[Moonbeam]

Whew! That was a tough, gritty win. Glad to see Portland handle playoff intensity, especially down the stretch. Kanter was huge for the Blazers despite his defensive lapses at times. Mo and Aminu made it hard on PG and put him in an early funk. CJ is still rusty but had some big buckets, especially early on in the first and fourth. Same didn’t have the best game, but he hit some enormous shots in the 4th, especially that long 3 to give Portland a 4 point lead. Curry was pretty good out there too.

It feels like Portland played closer to its normal level than OKC, so the Blazers will have to get better to win the series.

Regardless of all of the question marks, it is great that they opened with a win to exorcise those sweep demons. Hopefully they can settle in a bit more.

[DusterBuster]

That was the scrappy game I expected between these two teams. We out shot them from three 44% to 15%, which would usually translate into a more comfortable victory. But hey, first playoff win in awhile =)

OKC is one of the worst 3pt shooting teams in the league this year, so they know how to play and win while bricking 3pt attempts. So I don't actually look at that as a very big indicator for the series one way or another.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Victory GLB pic

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