In the past couple of years, there had been conversation if Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were solidified All-Stars. That conversation seemed to end last year when the back-court was swept by the New Orleans Pelicans. It was an embarrassment of a season, and expectations were immediately destroyed. We always heard that Lillard was underrated each and every season. Once the 2018 playoffs ended, that narrative flipped on it’s head and he became overrated.
Exactly one year later and things are changing for this tandem. Suddenly, shots are falling and being eliminated in the first round is non-existent. The same guys who were compared to John Wall and Bradley Beal because of coming up short is over. Each of these young stars got past their own inner demons to get where they are today.
Brutal Playoff Years
Throughout the years, Lillard has always been a big talking point. Dating back to 2014 when he hit the shot to send the Blazers past the first-round for the first time in 14 years. Not to mention, it a buzzer beater of all shots to send them to the next round. Sure, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the next round, but this team had an awesome future ahead of them. McCollum was his partner in the back-court in 2015 and the confidence to make playoff runs were here. Or so they thought anyway. You see the Blazers wouldn’t find themselves getting past the first round the next four years. Most of it was due to Lillard’s poor play and McCollum not being a true leader.
The next season, they would end up being knocked out in five games in the first round to the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2017, the Blazers got swept by the Golden State Warriors, which was understandable due to lack of help in depth. The only other series the Blazers saw the second round was 2016, and that had asterisks on it. They played the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round and had Chris Paul and Blake Griffin weren’t hurt, they would’ve probably swept or “gentlemen swept” the Blazers.
You didn’t know what to expect from this Blazers team after another disappointing playoff season. What you did know is that Lillard and McCollum wouldn’t lie down.
2018 Disaster
The Blazers ended the season great with high expectations after a nice 13 game win streak. In an interview with Chris Haynes on ESPN, Lillard and McCollum were feeling very confident. Lillard said on the interview “people feel like it’s a fluke” when talking about the season. There were ready to change that narrative.
After the playoffs, all they did was ending up proving it. They got swept by the New Orleans Pelicans and were sent home early. Anthony Davis got everything he wanted and Lillard was locked-down by Jrue Holiday. Lillard would end the series shooting a horrible 35% from the field, which was one of his most embarrassing performances ever. It was a complete and utter shell-shock, and the clowning began. NBA Twitter called Lillard “Jrue Holiday’s son” for months heading into the season.
The talks about breaking up the team had been made and for the most part they were a bit ridiculous. However, something did need to change in order for this team to make some playoff runs.
2019 Season
It’s important to recognize the changes the team has made before we talk about the two stars. Last year, the team didn’t have too much to rely on outside of Jusuf Nurkic in terms of scoring. They were the only three to score in double-figures last season. There wasn’t much with this team outside of Lillard and McCollum who can create their own shot. There wasn’t much of depth to be heard of either, so the Blazers were pretty one dimensional.
This year’s Blazers got better, and the players that stayed mostly improved. Nurkic raised his game to become essential in the Blazers offense. He’s now a walking double-double and the confidence was through the roof (if you noticed, he is a great trash-talker). They also added three key rotation pieces to the roster. Seth Curry, who you can rely on to make a three-pointer at any time, signed with them. They also added Rodney Hood and Enes Kanter, who were dying for a chance to play for winning teams.
The Blazers also kept guys like Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, and Evan Turner, who are big for both sides of the ball. Not to mention, guys like Meyers Leonard and Zach Collins elevated their play for those 15 minutes they see the court for. You put all of that together, and you have a team that can make some noise in the post-season.
Lillard And McCollum Have Solidified Themselves For The Blazers
When you look at the statistics, there isn’t much that has changed for Lillard and McCollum. What’s changed for these two goes far beyond stats. These two stars learned patience, how to be humble, and above all else how to win. You see it not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs thus far. The Oklahoma City Thunder have swept the Blazers in the regular season, and with Nurkic gone for the playoffs, it seemed like it was over for sure. That didn’t stop them from taking over and winning the series, though. In fact, Lillard was godly all series.
Lillard was drilling threes from 30 feet out and humbled the Thunder with a series winner similar to Houston back in 2014. He not only sent them home packing early, he gave them a wave goodbye to seal the deal. Both Lillard and McCollum shot 40% from three in that series. They also showed in clutch time how it’s done, coming up big for the Blazers.
They are now in a dog fight with the Denver Nuggets and just took a 2-1 series lead after a quadruple overtime game. Both stars shined to either send it to another overtime or finish the game off. McCollum was feeling great after playing 60 minutes of basketball, and Lillard didn’t look incredibly drained either. They have proven so much this season with not only their play, but their leadership as well. They have arrived folks, and by the looks of it, they aren’t leaving anytime soon.
