The first game between the Trail Blazers and the Grizzlies left most people stunned.
The fierce battle everyone had imagined never materialized, nor did the anticipated scoring duel between Lillard and Link.
Although LaMarcus Aldridge poured in a game-high 32 points, Trail Blazers fans certainly had no reason to be happy about it.
The Trail Blazers seemed like a completely different team. After the game, the entire squad was lifeless, devoid of any energy.
And the things Lillard said at the press conference laid their frustration bare.
People found it very strange.
After all, in the previous round, the Trail Blazers had remained resilient even when pushed to the brink at a 1-3 deficit.
Their comeback victory over the Clippers had won them countless fans.
And now, they had only lost one game. Why did it seem like all that fight had suddenly vanished?
People were puzzled, wondering why the Trail Blazers had become so fragile this time.
They were only down 0-1. They clearly still had a chance.
But from another perspective, the Trail Blazers players' mindset was not hard to understand.
They were so dejected because, to them, the pressure the Grizzlies brought was even greater than being down 1-3...
They might have been able to pull themselves together while trailing 1-3, because a 1-3 deficit was not entirely hopeless.
But the Grizzlies were precisely the team that gave the Trail Blazers no hope at all...
After being slaughtered by the Grizzlies in Game 1, Terry Stotts and his staff immediately began studying countermeasures, hoping to solve the team's problems.
And so, in Game 2, the Trail Blazers indeed made changes.
For the second game of the series, the Trail Blazers moved second-year guard C.J. McCollum into the starting lineup.
McCollum had barely made any impact during the