To take advantage

Lakers Face Struggling Blazers

On the brink of an epic collapse, the Portland Trail Blazers franchise quickly rebuilt its roster with a barrage of misfits and the electrifying point guard Damian Lillard to reach an elite level once again. This franchise’s turnaround deserves a standing ovation for how it recovered from the degenerative knees of the heir to Kobe Bryant’s throne, Brandon Roy, and the catastrophic mishap of selecting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. Instead, Portland has surrounded Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge with the perfect complementary players, leading to a top 10 ranked offense and defense. Albeit Portland’s recent struggles, they remain a top contender in the brutal Western Conference.

Damian Lillard narrowly earned his second All-Star berth after Blake Griffin was pronounced out due to injury. The point guard is constantly in attack mode averaging 21.6 points, 6.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, stimulating an offense that scores the eighth most points in the NBA. Lillard accomplished the rare feat of graduating from Weber State, which has paid dividends considering the level of maturity he plays with. He thrives in clutch moments, nailing buzzer beaters since he stepped on the hardwood in 2012, instilling terror into his opposition. As Lillard continues to evolve, he should pump up his fairly low shooting percentages to nudge himself into the conversation as the best point guard in the NBA.

Keys To Victory:
Exploit Lillard’s Defense: The one flaw in Lillard’s game is defense. He’s definitely improved on that end, but remains a subpar defender. Jordan Clarkson must seek to exploit this flaw by attacking the paint all night, rather than settling for ugly long-range jump shots, as he tends to do. If Lillard can approach league average status on defense, he can finally be spoken of amongst elites like Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul.

Published by: Lakers Nation

February 11th, 2015

Source: www.lakersnation.com