Photo Credit: Scott Halleran/Getty Images Sport)
We all knew the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge was good, but in the 2014 playoffs he has been absolutely dominant. Aldridge has scored 112 total points in three games against the Houston Rockets and has led his team to a 2-1 lead in the series.
In the Blazers 122-120 game 1 win over the Rockets, Aldridge shot 54.8 percent, scoring 46 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. He found great success in the paint where he shot 12 of 16.
When Aldridge scored 43 points in Portland’s game 2 win, it was a much different story but same result. Aldridge had his mid-range game going where the majority of his shots came from the left side and 13 of his 18 field goals came from 10 feet out or more.
Aldridge is the first player to score 43 or more points in consecutive playoff games since Tracy McGrady in 2003, and the first to score at least 40 in back-to-back postseason games since LeBron James in 2009.
In the Blazers game 3 loss, Aldridge wasn’t nearly as effective and only shot 36.4 percent and scored 23 points. All of his made field goals again came from the left side of the floor, but his long distance shots were not falling.
However, playing well in the playoffs is nothing new for Aldridge, he has never shot below 43 percent or averaged under 19 points in his four playoff appearances. He is currently averaging 12 rebounds in the 2014 playoffs, up from his previous 7.5 highs in 2011 and 2009.
Aldridge is shooting an impressive 53 percent on shots that are between 10-16 feet with defenders such as Dwight Howard, Terrance Jones and Omer Asik being thrown at him and he is still able to shoot over them.
Of course, Aldridge cant sustain going for 40+ a game, but he has been able to overshadow stars like Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry thus far in the first round. With the help of All-Star Damian Lillard he doesn’t need to do it all on his own.
Houston has yet to find an answer for Aldridge and he will likely continue to torment the Rockets with his mid-range jumper.
