LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers are in a battle to become the first team in NBA playoff history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Portland won Game 4 at home 99-92 behind a 32-point outing from Damian Lillard, but the Grizzlies lost Mike Conley in the fourth quarter, where they led the game by 10 going in.
Memphis will be more settled and comfortable with their rotation between Ben Udrih and Nick Calathes at home in Game 5, but even so, LaMarcus Aldridge feels Memphis carries the pressure. From Michael Wallace of ESPN:
LaMarcus Aldridge: ‘The pressure is on (Memphis) to close us out. We’re just trying to get this back to Portland.’ pic.twitter.com/qVdMAEZeWf
— Michael Wallace (@WallaceNBA_ESPN) April 29, 2015
Aldridge isn’t wrong here. At this point the Trail Blazers are just going to play as hard and as loose as possible. They still have to find ways to stop the Grizzlies, which they have barely been able to do, but no one is expecting the Trail Blazers to make history. It’s still on Memphis to put them away.
Down 3-1 entering Game5, Aldridge has no regrets delaying thumb surgery. ‘If feeling great is 10, I’m about a 5, 6.’ pic.twitter.com/C4ENxMSTEW
— Michael Wallace (@WallaceNBA_ESPN) April 29, 2015
The future is unknown for Aldridge in a Trail Blazers uniform, as one of the more popular free agents this summer. What becomes of the rest of this series could play a factor in the outcome.
