The Portland Trail Blazers were poised to even their series against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night until they blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. If you asked Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, he might tell you the officiating had a lot to do with it.
McCollum says Klay Thompson, who scored a game-high 27 points, has been difficult to defend because the Warriors are getting away with setting illegal screens.
“They set a lot of illegal screens,” McCollum said before the game, via Jason Quick of CSNNW.com. “They are moving and stuff. That’s the respect you get when you are champions, you get a lot more respect from the referees. You have to figure out a way to get around those screens and make it difficult.”
Thompson scored 37 points in Game 1 and shot 7-of-14 from 3-point range. He has stepped up in a big way in Stephen Curry’s absence, and McCollum acknowledged that he needs to do a better job of defending Thompson.
“Overall, I did a decent job,” he said. “I felt like all his shots were contested — they weren’t all well contested — but he was guarded on all of his shots. But I felt like he was too comfortable. He did whatever he wanted to do. I have to be there on the catch and make him do some different things.”
The bad news for McCollum is that those so-called illegal screens probably aren’t going to be called any more frequently heading forward. The Warriors — and plenty of other teams — have been getting away with them all season. The harder Portland works to fight through them, the more likely they are to get a call.
H/T Pro Basketball Talk
Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
