Blazers versus Pelicans
People dragging Damian Lillard on Twitter seem to only recall this playoff showing.
Against a New Orleans Pelicans defense designed to contain him, Lillard averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.3 threes per game. He shot 35.2% from the field and 30.0% from deep.
The Pelicans were able to shut him down thanks to having two elite defensive guards. Holiday was later named First Team All Defense, an award Rajon Rondo has earned four times throughout his career.
New Orleans advanced to face Golden State. Although they only won one game in the series, Holiday and Rondo were nearly as effective against Curry. In the series, he averaged 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.0 three-pointers per game (down from the rest of his playoff averages).
It’s worth noting that Curry did play 9.2 minutes less than Lillard in their respective games versus the Pelicans.
NBA fans outside of Portland only remember Damian Lillard’s playoff career as his performance against the Pelicans last season. Portland fans, on the other hand, only remember his playoff career through “The Shot” in 2014.
From dissecting his stats and the scenario of each postseason run, Lillard sits right in the middle of those two mindsets.
His playoff numbers are certainly not where they’re at during the regular season, and the Blazers are 11-24 in the playoffs since 2013. However, he’s faced elite defenders and teams that went on to make the Finals and even win it.
Keeping him out of the top five point guards entering 2018-2019 solely due to playoff numbers is flat out wrong, though. Lillard is an elite point guard and will continue to lead his team to the playoffs, unlike many others with similar supporting casts.