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The Portland Trail Blazers were supposed to be lottery bound this season. In the offseason, they lost Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez. Despite losing these key players, Portland is 27-27 this season and in seventh place. Losing these key components has made players like C.J. McCollum and Allen Crabbe step their up, but the main reason behind Portland’s success is the play of superstar point guard Damian Lillard.
Lillard is averaging 24.3 points, 7.3 assists and 4.4 rebound, but despite putting up these monster numbers, he was not selected to the NBA All-Star Game. Lillard is without question one of the biggest All-Star snubs in recent memory.
One can expect Lillard to improve his 42 percent shooting clip from the field and to clean up his 3.3 turnovers per game after the break. The 25-year-old is at his best when there’s something big on the line, but Lillard will need support from the “other guys” such as Gerald Henderson, Maurice Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu and Meyers Leonard. Henderson is averaging 13.8 points in the last five games, while Harkless is also showing signs of improvement as of late as he is averaging 14.7 points and seven rebounds in the last three games. If these players perform well, Portland should secure a playoff spot.
Lillard knows that it’s up to him to take the Trail Blazers to the postseason, and he will deliver as he usually does. But even if things go south, the one thing that is clear is the Trail Blazers have an elite backcourt to build around.
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