Damian Lillard: 'We kind of suck right now'

Portland point guard Damian Lillard put it plainly when describing the struggles of the Blazers of late, saying simply, 'We such right now.'

The Portland Trail Blazers took yet another loss in the ruthless Western Conference, falling well short of the reinvigorated Houston Rockets 126-109 on Thursday night.

The team was picking up steam after a couple of victories against the Sacramento Kings and the Denver Nuggets, but have recently been blown out by the Chicago Bulls and the Rockets.

“We kind of suck right now,” All-Star point guard Damian Lillard told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. “It's that simple.”

“We're just not very good right now. We've just got to keep fighting. It's important for our team to stay together and I think that's one of the biggest strengths of our team is we stay together. If we try to stay positive and we just keep working and keep fighting, I think at some point it'll click. We'll get it right and things will be fine. But I think everybody's frustrated.”

The Blazers have been without defensive anchor Al-Farouq Aminu, their Swiss Army knife when it comes to getting steals, blocks and defensive stops. Portland is in the bottom six in the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency while getting outscored by 11.6 points per 100 possessions.

Aminu is out for another 10 days and the team is trying to avoid falling under the .500 mark before his imminent return from a left calf strain.

“I think it's just communication issues a little bit,” forward Maurice Harkless said. “A little bit of attention to detail. We've just got to keep our focus and execute on defense. We're scoring enough. That's not the problem. We've got to get stops.”

The Rockets benefitted from consistent play from their starters (all scored in double figures), which included the return of 6-foot-1 point guard Patrick Beverley, who scored 11 points and led the team in blocked shots with three.

“We can't get no worse, right?” said Blazers forward Evan Turner. “It's got to go somewhere. Obviously, communication just has to pick up. As a unit, we just have to be accountable and, once again, draw the line with stuff. Just continue to take it more personal and draw the line. It's not OK for teams to go on 10-0 runs or go on 15-0 runs. That's never good.”