NBA Playoffs: Clippers vs. Trail Blazers Game 3 recap, full highlights

The Trail Blazers showed the Clippers how things work in the Moda Center, taking Game 3 to move the series to 2-1

If the Portland Trail Blazers were essentially going to have any chance of advancing in the 2016 NBA Playoffs after Saturday night, they were going to have to come up with a big win on their home floor at the Moda Center in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Clippers after losing the first two games of the series on the road. After Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum struggled mightily in the first two games, though, the talented backcourt duo for the Blazers came to play at home.

Portland jumped out to a solid lead on the Clippers to start the game, but the away team closed the gap at the end of the first quarter. Even still, the Trail Blazers were then able to push back ahead by a wider margin thanks to great play from Lillard and McCollum and thanks to Mason Plumlee doing the dirty work on the interior. The home team went into halftime up by nine points.

Never ones to go quietly, the Clippers came soaring back in the third quarter behind the efforts of Chris Paul and with DeAndre Jordan finally coming to play in the rebounding department. They cut into the lead in a major way in the third period and then actually overtook the home team Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter.

Things certainly got testy down the stretch as Portland put on a show in front of the Moda Center crowd to get their lead back and then hold on. McCollum and CP3 took a nasty spill, the Clippers made the mistake of giving DeAndre the ball so he could be fouled, and Maurice Harkless threw down an exclamation mark putback dunk to push the Trail Blazers ahead by five points with about a minute left to play.

After some missed shots by the Clippers and made freebies by the Trail Blazers, Portland was able to secure the victory in Game 3 to make their deficit in the series much more manageable and now look ahead at getting another win on their home floor.

Three Stars

Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers – 32 points, two assists, five rebounds

Chris Paul, Clippers – 26 points, nine assists, three rebounds, three steals

Mason Plumlee, Trail Blazers – six points, 21 rebounds, nine assists, one steal

Highlights

"CJ"

"Chris sets, Blake leads, DJ"

Next Game

Game 4 between the Clippers and Trail Blazers will take place on Monday, April 25 in Portland at the Moda Center once again.

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