While the frontcourt of Lob City seems to be back on the rise, Rip City's backcourt has stumbled in the opposite direction.
Still, the Los Angeles Clippers were critical of their 20-point blowout victory in the opener of their Western Conference first-round series, while the Portland Trail Blazers remained surprisingly optimistic.
Perhaps that's because the rout will mean little if the Clippers drop Wednesday night's Game 2 at Staples Center and relinquish the home advantage to the Trail Blazers.
Los Angeles cruised to Sunday's 115-95 victory behind a rejuvenated Blake Griffin, who played his sixth game after missing over three months with quadriceps and hand injuries - the latter from punching a team employee in January in a fight that resulted in a four-game suspension.
Griffin had his best stat line since his return with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and Chris Paul made 10 of 19 shots to finish with 28 points, 11 assists and six boards. The fourth-seeded Clippers improved to 6-0 with Griffin back in their lineup with their fourth straight win in this series.
They were electric offensively, shooting 53.8 percent - aided by several highlight-reel dunks from Griffin and DeAndre Jordan - and committing only 10 turnovers for their eighth consecutive win at Staples.
The other end of the floor, though, was the difference. The fifth-seeded Blazers, riding a 2-10 road slump, shot 39.8 percent and 33.3 from 3-point range. Damian Lillard was the only starter to make more than three shots, finishing 7 of 17 for 21 points.
However, after watching game film Monday, the Clippers felt it was more of an off-shooting night for Portland than a defensive effort worthy of applause.
"I thought we were good defensively, but I don't think we were anything past good," coach Doc Rivers told the team's official website. "We made a lot of mistakes. They're going to make adjustments, and we're going to have to be better."
The recurring game plan will be trying to slow Lillard and backcourt running mate C.J. McCollum, who finished 3 of 11 for nine points. The pair combined to average 45.9 in the regular season.
"They go as Damian goes," Austin Rivers told the team's official website. "Our focus was to stop him and limit everybody else as well. And I still think we can do a better job of that."
The Blazers missed 50 of 83 shots and 20 of 30 from long range for their worst shooting game since March 14. Somehow, they took that as a positive as they try to avoid their second straight first-round exit.
"They played as good a game as they've played in a while," Lillard said of Los Angeles. "We just have to understand that the things we saw on film, if we clean up some of those things offensively and defensively, then we'll have a chance. We know we'll have a chance."
Dropping Game 2 would make a comeback much more difficult. NBA teams are 16-254 all-time after trailing 0-2 in a best-of-seven series, and only two of 53 teams to face that hole have prevailed since 2009.
However, the last team to cough up that advantage was Los Angeles in a six-game first-round exit at the hands of Memphis in 2013.
The Trail Blazers are 1-7 when facing a 0-2 deficit, the lone victory coming in the 1977 Finals against Philadelphia. To avoid it they will have to beat the Clippers at Staples Center for just the second time in 11 tries over the last five seasons.
