Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers finished as the third seed in the Western Conference. With the destruction of the Warriors dynasty, some thought that the Blazers chances of getting one of the coveted top four seeds would increase. However, Blazers star guard Damian Lillard set the record straight by reminding people that the conference has actually improved.
“I’ve heard a few people say that because you know, KD left and Klay suffered a tough injury, so people know they won’t be the same team so they think it’s wide open, but the West is still super competitive. Everybody has firepower. At first, everybody was calling the Clippers a tough team, they played hard, and now they’ve got Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. And now Anthony Davis plays for the Lakers and New Orleans has all this young talent that is going to be able to compete. You know, I don’t think people give them enough credit. And then Utah picked up all these guys. So it might look more balanced but it probably got tougher to win in the West because every team is good now. Sacramento is a year older, Phoenix is a year older, I mean all these teams, they are coming. Like I said, everybody sees it as wide open, but it’s definitely not. There’s a lot of good teams.”
Lillard knows that it will be no cakewalk to the playoffs. He is absolutely correct that while the Warriors might have taken a step back, several teams have taken a step forward. Now, it is up to him as the face of the Blazers to lead his team to a playoff berth in a deep conference.
Follow Us
Subscribe