Damian Lillard scored 27 points in a loss to the Clippers Tuesday night, and he threw just one free throw. He’s averaging 3.2 attempts from the touchline per game this season, four fewer per night than the 7.2 he pitched last season.. He has been part of an overall downfall in his offensive game.
After the game, he lunged frustrated at the way the game is being whistled. “I feel that the way the game is being officiated is unacceptable. I don’t want to get too deep into it for them to make a big deal out of it, but the explanations, the shit they’re missing, I mean come on. I felt that going in, the rule change would not affect me, because I do not do the trick of the referees, I don’t do the trick plays, and it’s just unacceptable. Then the explanations and the comments in return when you tell them it’s like … I don’t even have anything else to say about it“Said Lillard, who will have to pay a fine to the league for it.
Mentioned this when I wrote about Dame last week: Career-low rates of shooting fouls drawn and FTAs have taken a big bite out of his scoring efficiency, and allowing more contact at the rack could help explain his worst restricted-area FG% in six years: https://t.co/LhgdfzYii9 https://t.co/Y8zs21LOWf
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) November 10, 2021
This season, the NBA ordered umpires to stop calling fouls on non-basketball-related moves., such as players who unnaturally jump towards defenders to take a foul, or who stick their legs out to make contact with a defender who is in legal position. Nevertheless, some players have the feeling that by doing so, the referees are allowing a new level of contact by the defenders. It is not only non-basketball related movements that are not whistled, but also actual fouls. James Harden has been the most critical of the new style of refereeing, and when called for a foul on Monday night, he drew sarcastic cheers from him and his teammates.
Lillard’s shooting slump at the start of the season goes beyond refereeing. He’s shooting 25.5% on 3-pointers this season and is struggling in particular with the seven-meter 3-pointers that Lillard has been known for in the past. Damian is reaching the rim slightly more than last season, but he is finishing only 52.8% of his shots in the zone, down from 63.1% a season ago. All this has led the league to speculate with himthe possibility that the abdominal injury that stopped Lillard at the Olympics is not fully healed.
Despite that, Portland still has a top 10 attack in the NBA this season, but it started at 5-6. Too there is a cloud hovering over the franchise from General Manager Neil Olshey’s investigation and the work environment he created in Portland.
