After sneaking into the 2017 NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, the Portland Trail Blazers were immediately faced with the daunting task of going against the Golden State Warriors in the first round. Coming into the postseason, the Warriors were labeled the title favorites by many, despite the recent return from injury for superstar forward Kevin Durant.
The Warriors began to look like themselves towards the latter part of the season, with Stephen Curry approaching his MVP level of play once again with KD sidelined. The Blazers and Warriors both feature some of the most explosive offenses in the league and they were on full display in game 1 of the best of seven series, a game in which the Warriors escaped victorious with a 121-109 win.
Despite the game one loss, Portland forward Moe Harkless says they still firmly believe they can pull off the major upset and insists the Warriors are aware of this too. Following from Jon Becker of The Mercury News:
And the belief is still with Portland, even after the Blazers suffered a 121-109 Game 1 loss.
“We know we can beat these guys,” Portland’s Moe Harkless said. “And we feel like they know it, too.”
The confidence doesn’t only lie with the players, but head coach Terry Stotts has full confidence in his guys too, as he should:
Stotts, though, sees plenty of reason for optimism, beginning with Game 2 on Wednesday.
“We competed extremely well for three quarters,” Stotts said. “It takes four quarters to beat a great team. It showed that when we play at this level, we can play with them and we can beat them. It shows the prospects are good. We just have to manage to score for four quarters.”
Though the 12-point margin of victory for Golden State may seem convincing, don’t let the scoreboard fool you. The Blazers were in the game all the way through and were even deadlocked with the Warriors at halftime and at the conclusion of the 3rd quarter.
A lot of their scoring came courtesy of their stellar backcourt, as Damian Lillard tallied 34 points and C.J. McCollum exploded for 41 points of his own, including 27 in the first half. With game two set to tip off at 10:30 PM on Wednesday, the confidence in Rip City hasn’t seemed to waver in the slightest.
