Despite consecutive blowouts, Trail Blazers see growth

7:06 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — Call it cognitive dissonance, or an abiding faith in probabilities, but after losing Games 1 and 2 to the Clippers here by 20 and 21 points, the Trail Blazers feel like they’re making progress as they return to Portland in preparation for Game 3 on Saturday.

Point guard Damian Lillard described the two losses as a couple of stages in a longer learning process, as might befit one of the NBA’s youngest teams. The way Lillard characterized it, Game 1 last Sunday in Los Angeles was essentially a fact-finding mission.

“We got to see what kind of coverages they were coming out with defensively,” Lillard said. “See what type of game plan they had, and they blitzed us; they made it hard for me as far as even getting attempts up, getting to certain spots, running the sets we like to run. They made it hard.”

After sticking close to the Clippers for a half, the Trail Blazers faded against the pressure of those blitzes.

Damian Lillard and the rest of the Trail Blazers are taking the long view on their fact-finding mission to survive the Clippers. Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

As the Blazers were scheming for the Clippers in Wednesday’s Game 2, Lillard recommended that the smart adjustment was to find him shot opportunities off the ball. He mined his notes file for potential ideas. Film was watched, sets were implemented, team meals were consumed.

“Our coaching staff did a great job of watching film and putting myself and C.J. [McCollum] in different positions to where they couldn’t really take a lot away from us,” Lillard said. “I just got to make the shots.”

Lillard has made comparatively few of them heading into Game 3, only 13 of 40 in Los Angeles with eight turnovers, and McCollum is 9-for-28. Both appear confident, but neither has been efficient. McCollum …

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