Damian Lillard continues to prove that he's the co-star Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers were missing last year. This time, it was a 120-107 NBA Cup win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Lillard scored 29 points (6-18 FG, 6-13 3Pt, 11-11 FT) along with six assists and two rebounds. He emerged as that much-needed secondary playmaker for Avdija, who finished with a game-high 34 points (11-13 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 9-9 FT), six rebounds, and four assists.
The Avdija-Lillard duo combined for 63 points, over half of Portland's total. The shooting splits show the three-level scoring of both players, who went a perfect 20-for-20 combined from the charity stripe.
Their scoring proved to be the difference in the game. The Blazers are now 9-3 to start the season and are playing noticeably better basketball than last year's first-round playoff exit. Some of that is due to the upgrade going from Tiago Splitter to Micah Nori, who is doing a great job of unlocking the strengths of this wonky Blazers roster early on.
Internal improvement from players like Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan, Sidy Cissoko, Deni Avdija, etc. certainly played a factor as well. But ultimately, the biggest difference between last season's roster and this one is Lillard's return.
Damian Lillard is the co-star Deni Avdija was missing last year
He's not necessarily the top 75 all-time player we largely saw during his first stint with the Blazers. But last year's playoff appearance without him proved the Blazers don't need him in that role during his second stint. Nori has used Lillard more in an off-ball role with Avdija as the point forward, and it's made the Blazers' offense more dangerous than ever.
Nori deserves a ton of credit as a first-year head coach who came in and improved what was already working under Splitter. Splitter didn't have the luxury of having Lillard at his disposal as he took an entire year off to recover from a brutal torn Achilles. But we're already seeing that patience pay off with the gap year, and technological improvements, for that matter, doing wonders for Lillard's recovery.
He may not be that same superstar player he was in his prime, but we are already seeing signs of vintage Dame back at the Moda Center. He's hitting shots from the logo against the Oklahoma City Thunder again. He's hitting shots in crunch time when the ball ends up in his hands, with that veteran presence. Most importantly, he's back in Portland. And better yet, he's winning at a rate with a roster that we've never seen before.
Those two seasons without Lillard were absolutely brutal and felt much longer as fans in Portland. But it made the comeback that much greater, not only individually with him from the torn Achilles but also coming back to this Blazers roster and franchise where he belongs.
The New York Knicks proved with their championship last year that there's something beyond talent or roster on paper that goes into actually going the distance. There's that unspoken aura, chemistry, whatever you want to call it.
The Blazers didn't have that last year. They have it now with Lillard.
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