The Golden State Warriors were utterly dominant in sweeping through the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs. That was never more evident than on Monday evening, when Kevin Durant returned to join the party and the Warriors exploded with an awe-inspiring first quarter performance that left their opponents in the dust for good.
Following a 128-103 defeat that ended the series, Blazers guard Damian Lillard took to the podium and was asked to reflect on what he saw from the prohibitive NBA title favorites. What he came up with was full of respect to the point of near admiration.
Damian Lillard on the Warriors pic.twitter.com/D1rRmoEN0s
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 25, 2017
Lillard’s full words can be found here, via the San Jose Mercury News:
“They’re a championship team. Watching them and playing against them, it’s obvious. They’re very consistent, whether they’re up or down, they just continue to play. They continue to be who they are. They play loose. They play together. They have a great understanding of how to play the game. That’s hard to play against when you add that with the talent that they have.
“For us, we look at them and you don’t want to say do what they do, but you want to have that cohesiveness and that understanding and that effortless flow to the game. You want to have that and that trust that they have with each other. You want to have that with your team. And you also have to understand that if you ever want to get out of the West, you’re going to have to go through them. I understand that’s what it is.
“It’s always been that way in the NBA. I think about when the Pistons were just beating up on (Michael) Jordan and kicking his butt every year and he had to get through them if he wanted to get to where he wanted to go. That’s just what it is because they’re going to be there, they’re going to be there every year and we have to look at that and understand that we have to be better.
“We have to go get better and come back better as a group if we want to move past them.”
Lillard’s assertion that the Blazers “have to go get better” in order to surpass the Warriors is an obvious one but not a sentiment that everyone would be quick to share so freely.
It is quite easy to tell that the All-Star guard holds Golden State in high esteem, especially when considering these comments came just moments after Portland suffered something of a demoralizing defeat.
The ultimate destiny of the Warriors remains to be seen, and there are some questions surrounding the reintegration of Kevin Durant and the health uncertainty with head coach Steve Kerr. Still, the NBA world saw what Golden State was capable of in their first round match-up and Damian Lillard can serve as a witness to it.
