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May 21, 2014
Page 15
Blazers Future Bright after Playoff Run
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 9
"Riiiipppp Ciiiittttyyyy!"
The hometown fans went wild.
The Blazers were considered an
iffy pick to even get to the playoffs,
let alone make it past the first round.
But a couple of key acquisitions and
maturation in its star players made
Portland one of the most promising
teams in the NBA.
"A lot of people had us ninth or
10th in the West, they didn't think
we would be able to compete the
way that we did. We worked hard,
we believed in ourselves," Lillard
said.
Portland's season got off to a fast
start. The team opened 24-5 to rise
to the top of the Western Confer
ence standings, boosted by the
offseason acquisition o f center
Robin Lopez and a seasoned point
guard in Mo Williams, who backed
up Lillard and sparked the Blazers'
bench.
Lillard and forward LaMarcus
Aldridge went on to be All-Stars.
Aldridge was m aking his third
straight trip to the annual show
case, while Lillard became the first
player to participate in all five events
staged during All-Star weekend.
The team slumped slightly in
March, going 4-9. The slide was
capped by a 95-85 loss at Orlando
on M arch 25. But Portland re
bounded by winning nine of their
final 10 games, wrapping up the
regular season with a five-game
winning streak.
The March swoon coincided in
part with the absence of Aldridge,
who missed seven games because
of a lower back contusion. His re
turn steadied the team for the push
toward the playoffs.
The Blazers finished the regular
season with 54 wins, the team's most
since the 2008-09 season, and bet
tered their record by 21 wins over
last season for the biggest turn
around in franchise history.
Aldridge finished the regular sea
son with career highs in points (23.2)
and rebounds (11.1), his success
augmented by the play of Lopez in
the middle. He is the only Blazer
besides Sidney Wicks (1971-72) to
average more than 23 points and 11
rebounds in a season.
Aldridge averaged 26.2 points
and 10.6 rebounds in the playoffs.
His 46 points in the postseason
opener against the Rockets set a
franchise record for most points in
the playoff game.
Lillard averaged 20.7 points and
5.6 assists in the regular season
while Lopez averaged 11.1 points
and 8.5 rebounds. Lopez has made
326 offensive rebounds this sea
son, setting a new franchise record,
and he had a career-high 29 double
doubles.
The Blazers defeated the Rock
ets in six games — capped by
Lillard's stunning 3-pointer — but
fell in the Western Conference semi
finals in five games to the San An
tonio Spurs.
The Blazers returned to the play
offs this season for the first time
since 2011. After getting bounced
in the first round their previous six
tries, the series against Houston
advanced the Blazers to the second
round for the first time since 2000.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had
nothing but compliments for the
Blazers.
"I congratulate those guys for
playing as hard as they did," the
coach said. "They have got a bright
future. They have a bunch o f young
guys who play their butts off."
Stotts said there were many posi
tives about this season.
“It’s im portant that we look
back at what we were able to ac
com plish this year,” Stotts said.
“We got a taste o f the playoffs.
We got a taste o f success. It is
som ething we can build on going
into next season.”
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H ome
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c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 9
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