Although Missing Lillard Is Always the Lesser Option, His Absence Has Improved the Blazers
Before he went down last season, the Blazers were 11-18 and had lost three straight. He wound up missing seven games and the Blazers went 4-3 without him. Without question, the rest of the team gained confidence from their play without him. When he came back on January 3rd, the Blazers rattled off a 29-17 record.
They had a head full of steam into the playoffs and beat the Clippers in 6 games. This season is eerily similar to last year. When Lillard went down this year, the Blazers had lost five in a row, with an 11-19 record. He might return against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, and I doubt he would want to miss putting on a show for his friends and family. If our All-Star returns, it could give this Trail Blazers squad a chance to create momentum in this new year.
All stats courtesy of http://nba.com and http://www.basketball-reference.com/
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Key:
PPG- Points per game
APG- Assists Per Game
RPG- Rebounds per game
FGA- Field goal attempts
3PA- 3pt attempts
SPG- Steals per game.