PORTLAND -- Trying to convey just how much his team would miss injured catalyst Mike Conley, Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger ran through an assortment of sports analogies before Monday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

He started with baseball, and how the Grizzlies needed to manufacture runs with their offense and play station to station in order to properly execute without their floor general. A few moments later during his pregame media session, Joerger switched to football.

That's when he suggested Memphis needed to rely on its ground game and try to run the ball 50 times over the course of 70 snaps. That was his way of saying the Grizzlies should ensure Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol get their carries since Conley wouldn't be available to handle the passing game.

Joerger was on the way to a third sports reference when he found a good reason to stop.

"I would use one from hockey, but I'm not sure I can find the right one," he joked.

For as hard as Joerger worked to make his point, there was no denying the Grizzlies would be missing plenty at the point. But another point was as clear as the unseasonably warm and sunny 73-degree day in Rip City on Monday: Conley's absence as he recovers from surgery to repair a facial fracture wasn't the reason this series is headed back to Memphis for Game 5 on Wednesday.

The Grizzlies largely overcame the indefinite absence of their floor leader through the first 40 minutes and appeared destined to complete the first postseason sweep in franchise history. They held up well enough to build a 10-point lead with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

And then Memphis collapsed. With Monday's 99-92 loss, the Grizzlies hold a 3-1 series lead and have to put up with the Blazers again instead of putting them away and benefiting from nearly a week of rest before possibly moving on to Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

Blame a combination of poor shots and missed shots by Jeff Green midway through the fourth. Point to the questionable lineup combinations Joerger used to get breathers for Randolph and Gasol before reinserting them in the final minutes. Seek answers for how Portland guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum couldn't buy a bucket in Game 1 but suddenly had carte blanche to the basket Monday.

Just don't use the Conley excuse. The Grizzlies don't know when they'll get Conley back after Monday's surgery to repair multiple fractures around his left eye, an injury he sustained late in the third quarter of Saturday's Game 3 victory. The Grizzlies managed to hold off a Portland rally in the fourth quarter without Conley to take a 3-0 series lead.

And they shook off a sluggish first half on Monday and appeared in control in Game 4 until the most underrated aspect of Conley's game was revealed in its absence. The perimeter defense the Grizzlies swarmed Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge with through the first three games was nonexistent in Game 4.

Offensively, backup point guards Nick Calathes and Beno Udrih combined for 25 points and six assists. But defensively, there were no answers from anyone on the roster for Lillard, who finally delivered the breakout game Joerger warned was coming with 32 points, seven assists and a four-point play in the fourth quarter that pushed the Blazers to victory. But as much as Lillard nailed the daggers from deep or the free throws that kept Memphis at bay, it was McCollum who has become the unexpected headache for Memphis. The second-year combo guard scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half and has averaged 22 points on 61.5 percent shooting over the past two games.

"As good as [Lillard] was -- and he's a heck of a player -- we've got a serious problem with C.J. McCollum," Joerger said. "He is getting to the rim, to the rim, to the rim on us over and over and over."

Meanwhile, Memphis never responded on either end of the court.

How did the Grizzlies explain the 17-point swing that ended the game?

"We stopped competing," All-Star center Gasol said. "We tried to trade buckets with them and we played a little bit too fast. We did not execute as well as we should have. They took away the momentum that we built and got away with a win."

Now, things potentially stand to get more complicated.

No team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a playoff series, and that's not even what the Blazers are thinking right now. What they feel is that Conley's absence levels the playing field a bit. Portland limped into the playoffs after losing guard Wes Matthews in March and then entered Game 1 against Memphis with Arron Afflalo sitting out with a shoulder injury.

Now the Grizzlies are handicapped without Conley, who had been playing on a severely sprained right foot before the latest injury. It's far from a new phenomenon for Memphis, which went 8-4 without the eight-year veteran during the regular season and had gotten solid play from Udrih and Calathes so far.

Despite having their seven-game win streak against Portland snapped in Game 4, the Grizzlies still have more than enough to win this series. Conley's potential absence won't be really felt until the next round against the top-seeded Warriors. Monday's loss seemed more of an inconvenience than anything else.

It's time for Gasol and Randolph to emerge after four games of what have been pedestrian performances at best. They no longer have the luxury of cruising along and allowing guards to lead the way.

Joerger didn't even bother with sports analogies after Game 4.

The outcome spoke for itself after a double-digit lead was squandered down the stretch.

The Grizzlies were running a sweep and simply fumbled before crossing the goal line.