ESPN's Max Kellerman on First Take: Still taking the Blazers in 7!

Even though Rip City is feeling down today after last night’s 124-98 thumping in Game Five in Denver, not everyone is jumping ship.

On ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday morning, co-host Max Kellerman stayed with his public endorsement of the Blazers to come back and win Games 6 and 7 against the Nuggets and advance to the Western Conference Finals.

“That was a big win [for Denver] and a bad loss for Portland,” Kellerman said. “And yet, it ain’t over. I believe the Trail Blazers will win this series. It is only based on faith in Damian Lillard. I think he’s a man on a mission.”

Now, perhaps Kellerman isn’t the voice Blazer fans want endorsing their team, as he very controversially said this week that Kawhi Leonard was a better clutch performer than Kobe Bryant. Portland might hate Kobe, but that’s just silly.

That said, it says something about Lillard’s talent and re-surgence as an elite NBA star to have someone at the Mothership still picking the Blazers to win the series in spite of Lillard and the team struggling.

Listen to the take here: