he was leaning on his teammates for the strength to play through the rest of the first round.

Finally, Monday’s nightcap is a No. 1 vs. No. 8 showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers gave the Warriors their best shot. It wasn’t enough. Now, Portland finds itself in a 3-0 deficit with just one chance at avoiding a sweep on its Real Cheap Jerseys home floor. The Warriors will be without Steve Kerr, who is out recovering from an illness. They may also be without Kevin Durant, whose left calf strain kept him out of Games 2 and 3. That didn’t stop the Warriors from rattling off a win in Game 3, and the Trail Blazers will need to bring it if they want to extend their season.

But the All-Star guard conceded his mind was elsewhere for the playoffs. Instead, he was leaning on his teammates for the strength to play through the rest of the first round.

“Mentally and emotionally, I’m not here, so I just feed off what the guys give me,” Thomas said during his postgame press conference, according to ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “[My teammates] give me a lot of confidence. I can’t do it without those guys. They believe in me.

“Being here is what makes me, I guess, sane. It makes me feel somewhat normal through these tough times.”

After dropping Games 1 and 2 in Boston, Thomas flew home to be with his family for a day. He then returned and helped guide the Celtics to four straight wins to advance to the second round.

First, the JOFA line is preventing high danger chances because, well, the puck is almost always nowhere near the Preds defensive zone when they are out there. They are busy playing like madmen in the offensive zone and creating scoring chances. The best defense is a good offense, and all that.

While the top line is doing what they do, the back-end is holding up nicely. Subban and Ekholm are clogging up the neutral zone—Subban with his offensive skills, Ekholm with his size—and suppressing shots when needed.