Stotts on elimination: 'There is really no thinking past today'
The Portland Trail Blazers avoided a sweep by winning Game 4, but elimination is still staring at them right in the face. As coach Terry Stotts said after the crucial victory:
"You have days off in between and you have to do whatever you can to win that game. Because there is not a game after that if you don't win, so the mindset for players and coaches is to do whatever it takes to win that game, you make whatever decisions need to be made that you think will help win that game. There is really no thinking past today"
Down 3-1 to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Blazers will need CJ McCollum and Meyers Leonard to repeat their brilliant bench performances from Monday night, just as they'll need Damian Lillard to prove that 32-point, 7-assist performance wasn't an aberration but a sign that his slump is over.
The Blazers face enormous odds in trying to come back from such a wide deficit, but if they stick with the "one day at a time" approach, not focusing on the series but instead just on the game ahead of them, they may have a fighting chance.
(h/t The Oregonian)
Photo credit: Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images
