The Portland Trail Blazers staved off elimination on Monday night, earning a 99-92 Game 4 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies to force a Game 5 back in Memphis. This could just be prolonging the inevitable, but with Mike Conley's status uncertain following surgery to repair multiple facial fractures, perhaps the Blazers can make this series interesting.
Conley missed Game 4, so it was no coincidence that Damian Lillard had his best game of the series. Lillard scored 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting in the win, with 12 of those points coming in the fourth quarter. Not having Conley around to harass Lillard played a part in his breakout.
Lillard was awful in the first two games in Memphis, shooting just 10-of-37 overall and 1-of-11 from three. The point guard improved in Game 3 by shooting 9-of-17, but he still struggled in individual matchups against Conley. In the first three games of the series, Lillard shot a dismal 6-of-19 overall and 1-of-9 from three-point range when defended by Conley, per SportVU.
But with Conley sidelined and Nick Calathes taking over as the starting point guard in his stead, Lillard found himself in a more favorable matchup. He took advantage, burning Calathes to the tune of 5-of-8 shooting. The 12 points Lillard scored directly against Calathes in just under six minutes of matchup time in Game 4 nearly matched the 15 points Lillard notched against Conley in 19 minutes in Games 1-3.
Lillard also had success driving the ball to the basket in Game 4. Lillard received 40 screens as the ball handler and Portland scored 1.34 points per possession on those plays, per SportVU. Again, not having Conley around to play strong defense and disrupt some of those screens played a role in the Blazers' improved offense.
Second-year guard C.J. McCollum took advantage of the trickle-down effect of no Conley. McCollum, who also struggled in Memphis, followed up his strong Game 3 with an excellent Game 4, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Like Lillard, McCollum found success driving to the bucket and using ball screens, although the second-year man didn't have nearly the amount of ball-screen opportunities as Lillard.
If Conley remains sidelined, Lillard and McCollum will continue to have a better chance to shine. The Grizzlies can use Tony Allen more on Conley, but that will open up chances for other Blazers to take advantage. Memphis has given up under 95 points per 100 possessions with Conley on the floor this series compared to 104 points per 100 possessions with him on the bench, per NBA.com. That's a significant difference.
If Portland is going to keep going in this series, the absence of Conley must be exploited.