Portland Trail Blazers: Has Damian Lillard surpassed Chris Paul?

The Portland Trail Blazers take on the Houston Rockets. One of the more exciting matchups will be at the point guard position.

Tonight, a must-watch Western Conference clash takes place as the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Houston Rockets. The marquee matchup will be at point guard, with Damian Lillard going up against Chris Paul.

Chris Paul is struggling for the Rockets this season while Damian Lillard is playing out of his mind for the Blazers 26 games in. The answer seems obvious, but let’s dig into who’s been better this season, Dame Time or CP3?

Damian Lillard

Regular season stats: 27.2 PPG, 6.4 APG, 5.2 RPG, 0.8 SPG (26 games)

Chris Paul

Regular season stats: 16.7 PPG, 7.9 APG, 4.3 RPG, 2.0 SPG (20 games)

Comparison:

Damian Lillard has been phenomenal this season. Has his game grown to the point that he is a better player than Chris Paul right now? We haven’t even reached the All-Star break, so it’s obviously a small sample size to evaluate players solely on their performance, but the numbers don’t lie. Lillard is the better offensive player right now. With his points and assists combined, Lillard accounts for 33.6 points per game. Paul accounts for 24.6.

This season, Lillard has the better PER (25.3 vs. 18.3), more win shares (4.2 vs. 1.5), and superior real plus-minus (4.41 vs. 3.03). To be fair, his usage rate is slightly higher than CP3’s (31.7 vs. 25.8), but his production still speaks volumes.

Damian Lillard is playing like an All-Star. Chris Paul is not. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a methodical playmaker and floor general but it can’t be denied that he’s off to a slow start, not just because he dealt with a minor leg injury and suspension earlier in the season.

Paul is still productive on both ends of the floor, he averages more assists, rebounds and steals than Lillard, and he’s an elite guard. But Lillard is a more efficient scorer, and he’s more decisive when he has the ball, which improves team chemistry for Portland because his teammates feel more involved when they get more touches.

CP3 has had some great performances this season but they’re not taking place as often as in previous seasons. His 16.7 points per game are his lowest total since averaging 15.9 points per game in the 2010-11 season, back when he was with the then-New Orleans Hornets.

Lillard is also taking better care of the ball than Paul, who is averaging a career-high 3.2 turnovers per game versus Lillard’s 2.6.

Chris Paul does not look like one of the best point guards in NBA history right now, but he’s still the second most dangerous member of this Rockets backcourt and an extremely good player. Damian Lillard will need to be at his best at both ends of the floor if the Trail Blazers want to win this crucial game tonight.