Portland’s guards were outplayed, and at times, probably a bit embarrassed, in consecutive losses to the Grizzlies at the Moda Center last week. They struggled to contend with physical defending, turned the ball over consistently and were ineffective shooting from three.
And then there was the trash talk. While the Trail Blazers might not have appreciated some of the things the Grizzlies had to say both during and after the first two games, they couldn’t deny that Memphis had earned the right to talk.
But in the third and final meeting, the Trail Blazers, especially the guards, got some measure of redemption.