Damian Lillard Articles - Page 39

Ja Morant is on the path to becoming a star in the NBA. Despite being set back by a knee injury, the Memphis Grizzlies’ 22-year-old point guard has stepped up his game big time this season, averaging 24.1 points, 6.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from […]

Ben Simmons trade rumors have begun to heat up again of late and the Portland Trail Blazers remain to be one of the teams that have been linked to the Sixers want-away star. In a recent interview for NBA Reddit, Blazers superstar Damian Lillard had some very high praise for Simmons as whispers of a […]

The Portland Trail Blazers fired Neil Olshey on Sunday, just short of a month after the team launched a probe into allegations that he fostered a toxic, hostile working environment. Olshey’s reign as general manager in Rip City comes to an end after nine seasons, the last eight of which the Blazers have made the […]

Regardless of when the investigation into allegations of Neil Olshey fostering a “toxic” workplace was finished, Jody Allen almost certainly wasn’t going to find a better time to fire the Portland Trail Blazers’ longtime general manager than Friday morning. The Blazers included no conclusions from that probe in their announcement of Olshey’s dismissal, simply specifying […]

If Thursday’s game proves a harbinger of their play to come while Damian Lillard is sidelined by abdominal tendinopathy, the Portland Trail Blazers’ season could very well be at risk of going off the rails. The San Antonio Spurs came to Rip City and throttled the depleted Blazers, 114-83, in a game every bit as lopsided […]

Chauncey Billups touched on the pitfalls of Damian Lillard’s abdominal tendinopathy well before it was officially announced the Portland Trail Blazers superstar would be sidelined for at least the next 10 days. Lillard was clearly more affected by his nagging core injury than normal during Portland’s blowout loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday. He […]

The Portland Trail Blazers will be without a pair of key contributors for the immediate future. Damian Lillard, who missed Tuesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons due to lower abdominal tendinopathy, will be re-evaluated in 10 days while continuing to receive treatment, the team announced on Wednesday. Making matters worse, ascending third-year forward Nassir Little, […]

Tuesday night’s blowout win over the rebuilding Detroit Pistons ended a three-game losing streak for the Portland Trail Blazers, moving them to an even 11-11 over a quarter into the regular season. Reasons for Portland underperforming preseason expectations are numerous and varied. Damian Lillard’s career-worst slump to tipoff 2021-22 finally dissipated only for his nagging […]

The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t need their franchise player, third-leading scorer or most impactful reserve to get a blowout victory on the second leg of a back-to-back Tuesday night, beating the Detroit Pistons 110-92 at Moda Center. C.J. McCollum led Portland to its wire-to-wire win, scoring 28 points and doling out six assists, both team-highs. But […]

The Portland Trail Blazers were outclassed by another Western Conference contender on Monday night, falling to the Utah Jazz 129-107 at Vivint Arena. An additional defeat on the road moved them to 1-10 outside Moda Center and 10-11 on the regular season overall, good for 10th-best in the Western Conference. Utah was better than Portland […]

The Portland Trail Blazers survived the worst slump of Damian Lillard’s career in large part due to the individual brilliance of CJ McCollum. Portland’s “other” star guard played like an alpha dog when his team needed it most, picking up Lillard’s slack en route to averaging 23.8 points and shooting 44.2% on nearly 10 3-point […]

NBA stars are paid highly to lead their teams. They play a huge responsibility of turning their squads into championship contenders. Although throughout the years, we’ve seen them display legendary performances, there are just times when they remind us that they are also human. The NBA season is still young. But so far, we’ve seen […]

San Francisco, CA – The Bay Area is full of culture, and that’s part of what makes the Golden State Warriors special. When the team signed Juan Toscano-Anderson, the Dubs added some of that culture to the organization. JTA was born and raised in Oakland, California, a place where not too many succeed. Legends like […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ 125-121 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday wasn’t just demoralizing because of their stagnant, disorganized late-game offense. It wasn’t just frustrating due to the surprise absence of Richaun Holmes or fourth-quarter ejection of De’Aaron Fox, either, making the Kings yet another short-handed foe to beat the Blazers. Failing to avenge […]

The Portland Trail Blazers woke up on Thanksgiving day at 10-9, alone at sixth in a loaded yet inconsistent Western Conference. Chauncey Billups’ team has at least somewhat righted the ship after a chaotic, discouraging start to 2021-22, and there’s ample reason to believe the Blazers’ best basketball awaits as they grow increasingly comfortable operating […]

The Portland Trail Blazers come up short on the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday night, falling to the Sacramento Kings 125-121 at Golden 1 Center Chauncey Billups’ team squandered the chance to not just win its fifth straight game, but come within percentage points of fourth place in the Western Conference after a […]

It took Damian Lillard over a full month into 2021-22 to be named Western Conference Player of the Week for the first time. What a slacker. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar earned the honor after leading his team to a perfect 3-0 record last week, averaging 28.1 points and 8.3 assists per game with a […]

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has supported the Las Vegas Raiders franchise through the years, and while his fandom won’t change, it seems he’s tired of all the losing this 2021 season. After the Raiders suffered another embarrassing loss in Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Lillard took his frustrations to Twitter. The Blazers […]

It certainly seemed like Damian Lillard had fully broken out of his early-season slump on Saturday night. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar dropped 39 points and seven assists in his team’s hard-earned 118-111 win over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers, dominating from the opening tip. Lillard scored 12 points and hit a pair of 3s in […]

All summer long, Neil Olshey appealed to the strength of the Portland Trail Blazers’ starting lineup as a major reason for optimism in 2021-22. Chauncey Billups parroted those talking points almost immediately upon being named Terry Stotts’ successor. When Media Day finally came in early September, multiple players extolled the virtues of Portland’s opening quintet, […]

The Portland Trailblazers overcame all obstacles to rally past the Chicago Bulls 112-107, and Blazers’ fans truly displayed their love for veteran Larry Nance Jr. The forward sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left in the game to put away the visiting team. He finished the night with 16 points, nine rebounds, […]

Now that the Trail Blazers are currently sitting at ninth place in the Western Conference with Damian Lillard having a slow start to the 2021-22 NBA season, it’s safe to say that things haven’t exactly gone as planned for Rip City. As Lillard has started to get his groove back and lead the Blazers back […]

Damian Lillard is slowly but surely breaking out of the worst slump of his career. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar is averaging 24.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists in his last five games, shooting 47.1% overall and 39.1% on a high volume of threes. Maybe those numbers don’t reflect Lillard’s MVP-level peak, but they […]

The Portland Trail Blazers earned a much-needed 118-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, emerging from a furious, back-and-forth battle in the fourth quarter for an impressive victory on the second night of a back-to-back. A lot went right for the Blazers from the friendly confines of Moda Center when they needed it […]

The Portland Trail Blazers entered Sunday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets at 6-7, that relative success coming in spite of Damian Lillard enduring the longest slump of his career. Playing without their injured superstar against Nikola Jokic and company, though, nonetheless proved a reminder of just how reliant the Blazers remain on their best player—apparently both […]

The tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum has been the franchise cornerstone of the Portland Trail Blazers for more than half a decade The Blazers own the league’s longest active playoff streak but have only once reached the Western Conference Finals. Though obviously talented, they’ve still always had something missing keeping them from legitimately […]

The 2021-22 NBA season is still fairly young, with almost every team playing at least 12 games. While some things we expected are happening, there are always surprises. Some of the positives include the Washington Wizards’ 9-3 start, Paul George’s MVP-caliber play, and the excitement surrounding the Charlotte Hornets. However, just like in every season […]

Damian Lillard will miss his first game of the 2021-22 season on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets. Apparently, the Portland Trail Blazers star is dealing with abdominal pain. As Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl shared, Lillard has lower abdominal tendinopathy. While no other details were provided regarding his treatment and recovery, it is worth noting that […]

Portland Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little had a breakout game against the Houston Rockets on Friday, and apparently, Damian Lillard had a huge part in that. Lillard knows what Little is capable of, and so he made sure to remind the third-year two-way player just that. Besides, it appeared Little was holding back a bit […]

The Portland Trail Blazers, coming off consecutive losses to Western Conference playoff hopefuls, badly needed a victory against the bottom-dwelling Houston Rockets on Friday night. But their 104-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center was about much more than breaking a two-game losing streak. Portland ended a six-game stretch of road losses to open […]

It only took six tries and facing a team that had lost its last nine games, but the Portland Trail Blazers finally got their first road win of the season on Friday night, beating the Houston Rockets 104-92 at Toyota Center. Don’t mistake the Blazers’ much-needed victory away from the friendly confines of Moda Center […]

The Portland Trail Blazers dared to deploy drop pick-and-roll coverage against Devin Booker on Wednesday night, a bet that paid off as the Phoenix Suns star scored 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Chris Paul fared much better in that comfort zone and overall, but still fell short of the table-setting dominance that could’ve propelled the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers squandered another encouraging performance from Damian Lillard on Wednesday, losing to the Phoenix Suns 119-109 at Footprint Center. The loss comes about 24 hours after they fell in similarly competitive yet frustrating fashion to the LA Clippers, moving the Blazers to 5-7 on the regular season—and an unnerving 0-6 on the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers lost their fifth straight road game to open the regular season on Friday, falling to the LA Clippers 117-109 at Staples Center. After the game, Chauncey Billups bemoaned his team’s penchant for losing focus on defense away from the friendly confines of Moda Center, remarks echoed by Damian Lillard. The numbers, […]

Since June 2012, Neil Olshey has maintained his position of general manager for the Portland Trailblazers. He oversaw the draft selections of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, while also helping revitalize Carmelo Anthony’s basketball career last season. Yet currently, he is under investigation for workplace misconduct, which could ultimately end his reign in Portland. There […]

LOS ANGELES – The LA Clippers held off a late rally by Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night to win their fifth game in a row. In their eighth consecutive game without Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Morris, the Clippers got 20-point performances from Paul George, Reggie Jackson, and Nicolas Batum in […]

Damian Lillard almost looked like his All-NBA self in the Portland Trail Blazers’ hard-fought 117-109 loss to the LA Clippers on Tuesday night at Staples Center. He scored a game-high 27 points and doled out six assists, playing maestro for a Blazers offense that at times played well as it ever has over the first […]

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley are not only two of the greatest players in the history of the NBA, but now that they’ve both carved out careers as basketball analysts, they also happen to be some of the most respected broadcasters in the industry today. This is exactly why their opinion on Damian Lillard’s current […]

The Portland Trail Blazers followed up a depressing three-game losing streak with a pair of wins at Moda Center in just over 24 hours. Ten games into the regular season, Chauncey Billups’ team is 5-5, enduring not only completely unforeseen struggles of its best player, but an ongoing investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct against […]