In late May, before the NBA’s bubble plan was official, before the reboot format was known, Damian Lillard made it clear: He wouldn’t come unless he had the chance.
After four games in Orlando’s recovery, he’s showing why. With a 125-115 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, his Portland Trail Blazers effectively closed the gap over the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8-seeded.
“You all know that I am always optimistic and I always see the best in situations like this, which is why I said what I said a few months ago when I said: ‘If we don’t have a chance to compete for a playoff spot, I don’t want to play, “Lillard said. “Because I knew that if we had a chance to play for a place in the playoffs, it would be something like what it looks like now.”
The Blazers entered the 3.5-game bubble behind the Grizzlies, having to be within four at the end of eight seeded games to force a play-in streak. In the play-in, the 8-seeded must win a game; the 9 suit must win two. With the Grizzlies grappling and grappling with a significant loss due to Jaren Jackson Jr.’s injury, the Blazers have not only recovered but are able to switch positions with Memphis. (If Memphis can even resist, it is.)
“In this situation, we only have one opportunity,” Lillard said, “and we’re taking advantage of it.”
Lillard was thrilling against Denver, losing 45 points and tying a career record of 11 by 3 points. There’s a story there, of course, with Lillard and the Blazers defeating the Nuggets in seven games last season.
“I missed our boys at half-time,” said Nuggets manager Mike Malone. “We were protecting Damian Lillard like we didn’t know who he was. We’ve done a great job defending him for the past two seasons, including the playoffs. [but] our collection points were too low. When we closed, we didn’t knock him off the 3-point line. Our hands were down. We weren’t up in the pick-and-roll. Call it, we gave up. “
The Nuggets are facing a flurry of injuries and health management issues themselves, seated Paul Millsap (rest), Jamal Murray (hamstring), Gary Harris (hip), Troy Daniels (hip) and Will Barton (knee). Center Nikola Jokic played, although Malone said he actually didn’t want him at all, which is why the big Serbian man sat down. He clearly gave Portland an edge, but Lillard isn’t all that worried about style points right now.
“We knew they had a lot of their main guys out, but in the NBA, over the course of my career I’ve learned that those are the most dangerous nights,” Lillard said. “You come out there thinking it’s going to be an easy match and that’s why you respect your opponent.
“We did what we had to do,” he said. “Some people might say, ‘Ah, they didn’t play anyone’, but we won’t apologize for the win. We’re just here to do it.”
While other teams can afford to manage time and minutes of play, the Blazers are in a battle. Could playing these eight games with urgency and intensity give them some sort of edge in a playoff series?
“I’d love to find out,” said Blazers manager Terry Stotts.
The Blazers’ four remaining games are against the Clippers, 76ers, Mavs and Nets, and while they have positioned themselves well, the race for 8 and 9 in the West is extremely tight. The Suns, Spurs, Pelicans and Kings are all within two games of Portland, leaving the margin for error as thin as a razor. Stotts wasn’t going to guess, saying it was a one-game-at-a-time situation (while fully acknowledging the cliché).
Before the shutdown, the Blazers were mired in a disappointing season, struggling with injuries from Zach Collins and slow comeback from Jusuf Nurkic. A season ago they were in the Western Conference Finals, breaking through to validate the Lillard-CJ McCollum backcourt and provide a road map to continue building a contender.
“I don’t see us as a team that went to the Western Conference Finals, because you are who you have proven yourself to be throughout the season,” Lillard said. “We have been unhealthy, it’s true, but we still have a lot of good players and we haven’t played at the level we needed. But I think now we’re starting to steer in the direction of the kind of basketball team we want to be.”
Leisure gave the Blazers time to heal and grow. Not only are they mostly whole again, but the development of the Gary Trent Jr. wing has been a huge boost. The second-year guard has been a star bubble so far, losing 27 to Denver, hitting 7 out of 10 from 3.
That’s what Lillard had in mind in May. He just wanted a shot.
“I knew that once we got here, we would be one of the teams that would take advantage,” said Lillard, “and so far we have.”
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