Even though the Portland Trail Blazers' dynamic backcourt has regained its shooting touch, the Los Angeles Clippers have much deeper concerns heading into Game 4.
According to coach Doc Rivers, the host Blazers outworked, outhustled and outrebounded his Clippers on the way to snapping a five-game slide in the head-to-head series.
Now Los Angeles tries to find an answer for Portland's renewed energy and added sense of desperation when it tries to take a 3-1 lead Monday night.
After shooting 13 for 39 in two losses at Staples Center, Damian Lillard turned it around Saturday with 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting in a 96-88 home win.
CJ McCollum had totaled 25 points and shot 9 of 28 in the first two games before finding a rhythm with 27 points while making 11 of 22 from the field. The third-year guard had been named the NBA's Most Improved Player one day earlier.
"I said we made the right adjustments (in Game 2), I got looks early, I just didn't make them," Lillard told the team's official website. "We stuck with that and I came out and I knew that this game, if we would have lost this game, we would have been in some real trouble.
"So I just wanted to come out and leave it out there, be aggressive on the offensive end ... Just be in attack mode for 48 minutes and our entire team did that."
Even though Lillard and McCollum have become factors again in the series and Portland has won 21 of its last 25 home games, the Clippers' biggest worries stem from some other aspects of the game that might not show up on the stat sheet.
The Blazers often beat them to loose balls, rebounds and had an extra spring in their step while facing the possibility of going down 3-0. They'll look to maintain that sense of urgency with a chance to even this series before heading back to Los Angeles.
Portland grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and owned a 56-44 advantage on the glass after Los Angeles had a 100-92 edge over the first two games. Maurice Harkless' put-back dunk gave the Blazers a five-point lead with less than a minute remaining.
"You just have to bring more energy," Clippers forward Blake Griffin told the team's official website. "They outhustled us, they were better on the glass, they got the 50-50 balls, they had more energy, they flew around. They executed their game plan."
Mason Plumlee has played a key role in that effort. After totaling 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in Game 2, he had career highs of 21 boards and nine assists to join Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O'Neal as the only players to have at least 20 rebounds and nine assists in a playoff game in the last 30 years.
"With the attention that me and CJ get, we've got to trust him in the middle to score the ball and make the right play," Lillard said.
The center also limited DeAndre Jordan to four points and 1-of-4 shooting when directly on him and held Griffin scoreless on 0 for 5 in their matchups. Jordan has totaled 34 rebounds in the past two games, but was 4 for 16 from the foul line.
Since finishing with 19 points and 12 boards in the opener, Griffin has scored 24 on 9-of-28 shooting.
Chris Paul has been a bright spot for Los Angeles, averaging 26.3 points, 8.3 assists and 5 rebounds. He had 26 points and Jamal Crawford added 19 in Game 3, but the rest of the Clippers totaled 43 points and shot 17 of 49 (34.7 percent).
Los Angeles is leery of letting this series drag on after allowing a 3-1 advantage slip away against Houston in last year's Western Conference semifinals loss.
"Anything can happen, as it showed last year against Houston," guard J.J. Redick said. "On Monday we'll have an opportunity to go up 3-1."
