Trail Blazers didn’t take banged-up Clippers for granted

Wednesday’s game presented the Portland Trail Blazers with an opportunity to seize a big moment against a Clippers team plagued by injuries.

The Trail Blazers took advantage, competing until the end to pull out a 108-98 victory over the Clippers in Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round series at Staples Center.

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Do the Clippers have a chance at winning Game 6 against the Blazers and forcing a Game 7? Bill Plaschke, Ben Bolch and Lindsey Thiry discuss after a 108-98 loss in Game 5.

Portland now has a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and can send the Clippers home for the summer with a victory Friday night at the Moda Center.

The Trail Blazers faced the Clippers without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin , but Portland didn’t become complacent.

Instead, the Trail Blazers won their third consecutive game in the series.

C.J. McCollum led the way with 27 for the Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard, after a 0-for-5 start, had 22 points on seven-for-20 shooting. Maurice Harkless had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Mason Plumlee had 10 points and 15 rebounds.

“Unfortunately they had some injuries that completely changed their team,” Lillard said. “Like I said, it changes every game. We had a good game tonight, finished it. They’ve got a good enough team to do the same thing to us. We’ve just got to continue to get better at the things that we’ve done well in this series that’s given us a chance to win these games.”

Plumlee’s role

The basketball has been in Plumlee’s hands quite often in this series and it is a role in which he has flourished for Portland.

In many ways, it’s an oddity to see a 6-foot-11 center facilitate a team’s offense from many spots on the court.

But Plumlee has been put in that position because of how the Clippers have decided to double team Lillard and McCollum seemingly at every turn.

“I’m very comfortable,” Plumlee said. “I’m playing with an advantage most of the time because they are committing guys to the ball. But I feel good about it.”

Plumlee has had space to operate when he gets the ball, and he has made enough right decisions to lead the Trail Blazers in assists (6.5 per game). He had a career-high nine assists in Game 3 and followed that up with another career-high 10 assists in Game 4.

“Whatever is good for the team, I’m fine with it,” said Plumlee, who had four more assists Wednesday. “The biggest thing is it lends itself to us getting a lot of open shots. You just have to adjust and adapt to how you’re being played.”

During the regular season, the Trail Blazers allowed Plumlee to push the ball up court after a rebound and run the offense. He averaged 2.8 assists during the regular season, third on the team.

“I think Mason has shown that he’s a very capable playmaker,” Portland Coach Terry Stotts said, “and he has grown more confident as the season has gone on.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner