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Damian Lillard: The Portland Trail Blazers’s High-Powered Scoring Engine

By Raymond Simms

Mar 23, 2017; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) looks to drive the ball on New York Knicks center Kyle O'Quinn (9) and guard Ron Baker (31)during the second half of the game at the Moda Center. The Blazers won the game 110-95. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2017; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) looks to drive the ball on New York Knicks center Kyle O'Quinn (9) and guard Ron Baker (31)during the second half of the game at the Moda Center. The Blazers won the game 110-95. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the playoffs on the line, Damian Lillard has answered the call to be the Portland Trail Blazers’ playmaker and leader.

After holding a 23-point lead early in the third quarter Thursday night at the Moda Center, the Portland Trail Blazers slowly let the New York Knicks back into the game. With 3:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Knicks were within 12 points. That’s when Chasson Randle drew a foul against Damian Lillard. Lillard was hit in the face in the process.

Team trainer Geoff Clark tended to him on the sideline as Randle went to the line. Lillard was openly frustrated at the call against him. He returned to the court as Randle knocked down both free throws, making it a 100-90 game.

From there, Damian Lillard took his anger out on the Knicks.

Immediately after the free throws, Lillard took it to New York himself and hit an acrobatic driving layup. Lillard deflected the ball on the following defensive possession. That led to another score.

The Knicks called a full timeout, attempting to stem the tide. But Lillard picked up where he left off after the break, scoring on back-to-back offensive possessions. That led to another Knicks timeout, with the score out of reach at 110-90.

The Trail Blazers would go on to win the game, 110-95. That Lillard-led onslaught served as a microcosm of his impact on the team this season, especially since the All-Star break.

The Trail Blazers are 10-5 since the break, including 9-3 in the month of March. Lillard is averaging 31.1 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game over that span. He scored 30 points against the Knicks, making it the eighth consecutive game he’s scored 25 or more.

That ties the streak C.J. McCollum had from Dec. 30 through Jan. 13. According to The Sports Xchange, Geoff Petrie (11 games) and Clyde Drexler (nine games) are the only Blazers that have gone longer scoring that many points.

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    • Damian Lillard’s offensive output comes at an opportune time. Portland remains in the fight for the final playoff spot in the West. The Blazers are 1.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets, a team that notched a huge 126-113 win on Wednesday over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

    Lillard is fully delivering in his role as team leader. He, and the team itself, struggled for much of the year. The team went 23-33 before the All-Star Break. Lillard shot 43.3 percent from the field during that same span. But his scoring explosion since then (and the 49.5 percent shooting that has come with it) has been a major part of Portland’s late-season resurgence.

    Lillard is a prolific and mostly self-reliant scorer. Since the All-Star break, 74.1 percent of his made baskets are unassisted. That’s second on the team behind Evan Turner’s 85.7 percent in his four games since he returned from injury.

    He has shot at or above average from just about everywhere on the court. Most of his shots come when he’s attacking the rim or shooting threes.

    According to NBA.com, 31.7 percent of Damian Lillard’s shots since the All-Star break have come within the restricted area, while 35.1 percent of his shots are three-point field goal attempts that have come from “above the break.” (Above the break threes are shots that come from the wings or straight-away; the areas behind the curved part of the three-point line.)

    Lillard is shooting 60.4 percent at the rim, just 1.1 percent under the league average. He’s shooting 42.0 percent on above-the-break threes. That’s 7.3 percent above average.

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    Mar 18, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) brings the ball up the court in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Trail Blazers won 113-97. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /

    The Blazers are going to need more of this production in their final 11 games, but Lillard can’t do it alone. For one, the team will need to maintain its newfound defensive prowess. They are holding opponents to 99.4 points per 100 possessions over the last seven games.

    Portland will also need more consistent production from their forwards and their bench. Al-Farouq Aminu’s play has highly fluctuated this month, Evan Turner is still adjusting from his hand injury, and Meyers Leonard has been trying to play through pain.

    Next: 10 Matchups We Want To See In The 2017 NBA Playoffs

    Regardless of the remaining roster’s fortunes, Damian Lillard will continue to lead the charge for Portland in the hopes that it leads to a postseason berth.

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