Damian Lillard showing improvements on defensive end

Three games into the 2017-18 season, Damian Lillard’s defense looks different.

Poking his hands into passing lanes, slithering around screens, and rotating to offer weakside help, Damian Lillard has started the year looking more like a nightmare on defense than a liability.

And while box scores don’t tell the whole story (and the sample size is small), early returns are promising. Dame leads the Trail Blazers in both steals (2.0) and blocks (1.3) per game, and has a defensive rating of 94, by far the best of his career.

What changed?

The Past: Damian’s Dreadful Defense

For years, critics have picked apart the star guard’s turnstile defensive chops: Bleacher Report named him as the 5th-worth defensive point guard in the NBA.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that Lillard was hesitant to call out Portland’s bad defense because his wasn’t any better.

And Vice Sports had this to say about Lillard’s defense during a rough stretch in 2015:

"Right now, though, Lillard looks uncharacteristically meek and quite reasonably frustrated. His shot has abandoned him, and his already lackluster defense has regressed to comical levels. Grizzlies backup Beno Udrih had a perfectly competent year as an extended fill-in for Mike Conley, but he’s looked positively Maravichian in this matchup; it takes nothing away from Udrih to note that any NBA guard would do well against Lillard’s present screen-door-hanging-on-one-hinge defensive approach."

It wasn’t just critics, either. Lillard himself said in a NBCSNW video that it’s “easy to pick apart” his defense, and “I can’t complain when people say things about me defensively.”

With so much to criticize, it was no wonder that Lillard looked in the mirror during the offseason.

The Present: Lillard’s Defensive Improvement

Yes, the sample size is small, and no, three games does not make a season. But for Blazers fans itching to see some improvement, ANY improvement from Dame’s defense, these first three games have got to be tantalizing.

Remember that Lillard’s defensive rating through three games is 94? For reference, Kawhi Leonard’s best defensive rating of his career is 96.

Don’t get it twisted: Lillard is not Kawhi Leonard. It’s just one data point that reflects a shift in defensive philosophy.

Just last week, Lillard told OregonLive.com that the Blazers were hoping for a strong start to the season, and that their defense had to be better:

"I think we came in on the same page as far as taking it to the next level on the defensive end. Everybody came back committed to it, and you could tell from the first day. There was more excitement behind it, more attention to detail."

Lillard’s defense this year reflects that focus. He recorded three blocks on opening night against the Phoenix Suns, and recorded four steals in yesterday’s close loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Twitter account @NBA_Math produced this graphic, showing Lillard on the positive side of defensive points saved:

Beyond the stats, Dame LOOKS more engaged. He’s more willing to fight through screens and expend energy on defense. One play in the Blazers’ win against the Pacers showed that improvement.

Dame checked Darren Collison well above the arc, pressuring Collison into picking up his dribble. After Collison passed to Victor Oladipo, Lillard faked cutting off the drive, then poked the ball away as Oladipo tried to kick it out. Lillard was then wide open for the easy fast break bucket.

The Future: Keeping It Up

Everyone else follows when your best player sets the tone on defense.

Seeing Lillard dive on the floor for loose balls, fight through screens, and sprint to contest shots isn’t just good for him. It’s good for the whole team.

In a packed Western Conference, the Blazers will need every advantage they can get. If their defense is better, and their offense remains top-notch, a high seed isn’t out of the question.

With the team’s expectations calibrated beyond “just making the playoffs,” a top-half defense could mean the difference between home court advantage and being bounced in the first round.