NBA: 8 takeaways from the first round of playoffs

Portland Trail Blazers cook the Oklahoma City Thunder

Knowing Damian Lillard and the Blazers, going into this series there weren’t many outside of Portland who thought this team had any shot of getting past the first round regardless of their opponent. But the Blazers shocked the world despite already being the higher seed and upset the heavily favored Thunder winning the series on an iconic DameTime buzzer-beater in Game 5.

The point guard duel between Lillard and Russell Westbrook was incredible to watch as both All-Stars went back and forth with the flashy moves on one another. In the end, though, the Thunder couldn’t get anything going behind the arc and Portland used this to their advantage and won. This was one of Lillard’s best series dropping a whopping 29.8 points per game, but the real surprise of the series was ex-Thunder center Enes Kanter, who was just recently acquired by the Blazers off waivers after starting center Jusuf Nurkic went down with a season-ending leg injury.

Kanter really stepped up big time to help the Blazers move forward with 13 points and 10 rebounds. This series meant everything to Portland after getting swept in the first round last year by the New Orleans Pelicans. Lillard wanted everyone to know that the Blazers are not to be doubted and he showed just how stellar he and his team are in this series.

This also meant everything to the Thunder who, despite re-signing key player Paul George long-term still haven’t made it out of the first round since Kevin Durant departed for Golden State. The Thunder have some things they need to sort out but as for the Blazers, they have time to settle as they await the winner between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs.