The Blazers Passed An Important Test In The Absence Of Damian Lillard


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The Portland Trail Blazers go as Damian Lillard goes. While the 27-year-old has not necessarily been the best player on the roster for all six seasons of Lillard’s NBA career, the Blazers have been “his team” for quite some time and, in 2017-2018, that has resulted in Portland being nicely situated in the Western Conference playoff picture.

However, Lillard has been battling a hamstring issue, an ailment that has cost him the last five games of action. Fortunately, though, there is optimism that he will be able to return after missing only a quintet of games.


Still, the elephant in the room has been that, well, the Blazers were able to stave off potential doom without him. Five games can only do so much to sink a team’s playoff chances and, admittedly, the bottom of the West’s playoff battle has been uglier than imagined given what has transpired with teams like the Clippers and Jazz. With that said, Portland did everything possible to withstand the loss of Lillard and even that five-game sample could be pivotal.

With an overtime victory over the Bulls on Monday evening, the Blazers completed a 3-2 stretch without their leader and offensive engine. The wins did not come against murderous competition, with Portland outlasting the Hawks, Lakers and Bulls for the trio of favorable results. In the same breath, nothing was given in any of those match-ups and the play of backup point guard Shabazz Napier was paramount to the team’s overall success.

Napier surpassed the 20-point barrier (not a small feat) on three occasions while providing generally stable play alongside CJ McCollum in the backcourt. Of course, the former UConn standout does not present the kind of upside of McCollum (who zoomed to 30-plus points twice during the run) but having that kind of competence worked wonders for the Blazers. In the end, that proved to be crucial given the lack of other, high-end offensive options on the perimeter.

When the dust settled, the Blazers emerged with a 19-17 record and a tie for the No. 6 spot in the West alongside the ever-interesting Nuggets. January isn’t the time for intense scoreboard watching in the NBA and, as a result, this particular balancing act will likely be ignored, especially if Lillard is, in fact, able to return for a game against LeBron and the Cavs on Tuesday evening.

Still, it cannot be overstated just how difficult it is to replace the production of Lillard (or a player of his ilk), which goes beyond the simple math of 25.2 points, 6.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds per contest. The Blazers aren’t likely to seriously challenge the Warriors or Rockets in a first round playoff series and reasonable minds can simply admit that reality. With that as the backdrop, though, Portland’s roster isn’t cheap for owner Paul Allen and this is a well-coached, competent product that brings stability to a basketball-crazed market.

Things could have flown off the rails over this five-game sample and, with an unfavorable outcome here or there, the Blazers would have been in significantly worse shape for postseason positioning. McCollum, Napier and company did their best to make up for Lillard’s injury absence, though, and as this stretch showed, this Portland squad can be dangerous without their star on the floor. Still, it’ll be good to see Lillard be able to take the floor once again.

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