Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are now 1-8 against the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs over the last 2 years. The Warriors, being the much superior team, have simply dominated the matchup. However, the Blazers are young, the second youngest behind only the tanking Philadelphia 76ers. They view themselves as a team with plenty of room to grow and rightfully so. This does not change the fact that the discrepancy in play has frustrated the Blazers young star.
According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, Lillard has become consumed with a desire to topple the mighty Warriors.
“You have to be obsessed with that because you know that they’re so good that they’re going to be there,”
“That’s who you’re going to have to get through to get to where you want to get to. That’s what it is.”
Damian goes on to compare their matchups to the classic Pistons, Bulls series’ in the early 90’s. Back then the “Bad Boy” Pistons dominated the Michael Jordan-led Bulls. Three straight years the Bulls fell to the Pistons, winning just 6 games to the Pistons’ 12 prior to embarking on their dynasty.
“You also got to understand that if you ever want to get out of the West, you’re going to have to go through them,”
“And for me, I understand that’s what it is. It’s always been that way in the NBA. I think about when the Pistons were just beating up on [Michael] Jordan. [They] were just kicking his butt every year, and he had to get through them if he wanted to get to where he wanted to get to. That’s just what it is.”
Before another Damian Lillard quote gets twisted into an onslaught of ridicule, Dame is not directly comparing his Blazers team to the Michael Jordan Bulls. He is simply comparing what they have to overcome to a classic series in NBA history. It is also an apt comparison. The Warriors will be tough to overcome and with the Blazers recent addition of Jusuf Nurkic, their young roster and major talent, they may just undergo massive improvement in the coming years.
