Damian Lillard's Errant Shooting Barely Blunted his Game 4 Impact
Damian Lillard's first basket didn't come until the last three minutes of the second quarter, hardly a ringing endorsement of the Trail Blazers' hopes in a must-win Game 4. But as it turned out, Portland didn't need Lillard to dominate with its back against the wall versus the Denver Nuggets.
Lillard's trademark step-back three with 2:56 left on the first-half game clock gave the Blazers their first double-digit lead, one they took into intermission and extended to an insurmountable 31 points late in the third quarter.
It ended up being Lillard's only bucket. His 10 points on 1-of-10 shooting both marked new lows for his lengthy postseason career. Don't read too much into those shooting struggles, though.
Terry Stotts reiterated after Portland's blowout victory that Lillard's impact was keenly felt regardless.
"He had a tough shooting night but I thought he didn't let it affect his play," Stotts said of Lillard. "You know he's gonna shoot the ball better, but I liked the way he still managed the game, way he defended. He was great in the huddles. We needed all that as well."
Norman Powell, the star of the Blazers' raucous victory along with Jusuf Nurkic, didn't even realize that Lillard's jumper wasn't falling. Like Stotts, he was far more focused on the value Lillard provided elsewhere – physically and mentally.
"I thought Dame did a great job. Honestly, I didn't even know that he was 1-for-10," Powell said. "He did a great job facilitating, finding guys on the weakside from all the attention he's being given in these playoffs and throughout the course of the season...He was into it, attentive, making sure that other guys were locked in and focused. He's a leader."
Lillard dropped 10 assists on Saturday, reaching double-digit dimes for the third in four games during the first round. Indeed, much of the success Portland enjoyed offensively sprung from the threat Lillard poses to defenses pretty much whenever he's within 40 feet of the rim – and not just with the ball in his hands.
How many players in basketball are face-guarded a single pass away from the post?
Only Steph Curry is also regularly subjected to traps near halfcourt.
Portland's offensive rating with Lillard on the floor in Game 4 was a sky-high 140.3, per NBA.com, easily better than its impressive overall mark. Clearly, his importance to the Blazers' offense goes much deeper than his shooting numbers.
Unlike some alpha dogs, Lillard is comfortable playing with that reality in mind when his teammates have it going. But he knows his own offense is always just a flip of the switch away, too.
"When the game is going like that I just try to manage the game and make sure that it goes right," Lillard said after game 4. "Obviously I'm gonna still try to find my spots and not get too passive. I didn't shoot the ball well like you said, but once I saw that guys had it going and that we had a good flow to the game and that we was defending, I knew that I wouldn't have to force my way into it. If it came down to it I knew that I would put my head down a little bit more and start to search a little bit more."
The close-fought nature of this series and competitive fire of the playoffs basically guarantee that Lillard will be forced to search for his own offense again before the first round is finished. Lillard, obviously, relishes the opportunity for Dame Time.
But it says a lot about Lillard's maturity and versatility that his presence loomed so large in a postseason game that's statistically the worst of his career. Even more encouraging for Portland? What it says about the Blazers' chances of moving on if they can duplicate Saturday's performance going forward.