The Portland Trail Blazers have dropped three in a row for the first time this season after a disappointing 104-100 loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday night.
After a 10-3 start through the first month of the season had Rip City riding high, the Blazers have lost five of their last seven outings and dropped from the top of the Western Conference standings to sixth following their third consecutive loss.
Here's a quick spin around the web for what they're saying after Sunday's game:
* Despite the Blazers loss last night, Damian Lillard is one of the best scorers in the league. He's scored 529 points on the year so far, good enough for No. 5 on the list behind only Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Kemba Walker.
* Our own Joe Freeman with Damian Lillard on the Blazers' recent slide:
The Blazers' 12-8 record is identical to the one they had after 20 games last season, a rather surprising reality for a team that briefly occupied first place in the Western Conference and seemed to be cruising.
"I think we're just hitting a rough patch," Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard said. "Early on, everybody's body was fresh, everybody's mind was fresh. The bounce was going our way, everything was happening right for us and (we) were winning games. But, also, we did a lot of things to put ourselves in position to win games, a lot of simple things on both ends of the floor. We just haven't been as sharp at those things at either end of the floor. It's too spotty."
* Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times on yet another dramatic comeback by the Clippers:
Harris tied a career high with 34 points and the Clippers' improved physicality on defense helped their 13-point halftime deficit vanish in minutes. The Blazers' failure to break the game wide open late in the second quarter proved costly.
With Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic out the entire second half with a right shoulder contusion, pick-and-roll screens lost their bite and star guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum struggled to compensate for the lack of penetration with their outside shooting. Lillard, who scored 30 points, made four of 14 shots in the second half. McCollum had 18 points but shot three for 10 after halftime. The Clippers outscored Portland 38-16 during a third quarter Portland coach Terry Stotts called "extremely disappointing."
* Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports Northwest on the Blazers' awful night outside spoiling head coach Terry Stotts' 61st birthday:
The Trail Blazers, as is the case in almost all of their losses, had a horrible time making three-point field goals against the Clippers. They missed a whopping 30 threes, going 8-38.
The Clippers jumped Damian Lillard in the pick-and-roll frequently in the second half and the scene looked a lot like some games last season when the Portland captain and his running mate at guard, CJ McCollum, couldn't find shot-makers to take the pressure off.
The Blazers return to the Moda Center Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.