Blazers' Damian Lillard Says Struggles Are an 'Opportunity to Show My True Character'

The Portland Trail Blazers fell to 3-4 on the season with Wednesday's 113-103 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and Damian Lillard shot just 7-for-20 from the field and 2-for-9 from deep.

"I always look at struggles as an opportunity to show my true character," Lillard said after the game, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

He expanded on that thought and said he relishes the challenge:

"When things go great there's a lot of praise that goes along with that. A lot of people give you a lot of credit. They speak highly of you on social media, TV. 'Oh Dame had 60, Dame had 50.' They speak really highly of you. But I think it says more when you're going through something and s--- is kind of hitting the fan and you're struggling and everybody's got something to say and to me the real ones, they can keep on trucking and keep on going and still find a way to get the job done."

"And, me personally, I love when those opportunities present themselves. Because when I am riding high and when I do get smoking hot and when I get going people are going to look at it and be like, 'We remember when you were struggling and you didn't shy away from it.' I think it will be more respect for the success when they see how you handle failure and how you handle struggle."

Philadelphia winning at home against the Trail Blazers in the regular season typically wouldn't be a particularly surprising development, but it was Monday.

After all, it was missing Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris. What's more, Danny Green exited in the third quarter, which left the Eastern Conference contender without much of its usual firepower.

Seth Curry led the way with 23 points, while Georges Niang added 21 points off the bench. Andre Drummond stuffed the stat sheet as well with 14 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in the victory.

Yet Lillard's struggles were under the microscope again, especially since he entered play shooting just 34.9 percent from the field and 23.2 percent from three-point range. While it is a small sample size, he has never shot worse than 41.9 percent from the floor for a season in his career.

It's a fairly safe bet the six-time All-NBA selection will eventually correct his shooting woes. He is adjusting to a new coach and system, and the fact it has been just seven games means he has plenty of time to turn things around as the season continues.

His quotes also suggest he is embracing the challenge that comes with overcoming such a slow start from an individual level and a team perspective.

Lillard's next chance to find his shooting touch will come Wednesday when Portland faces the Cleveland Cavaliers.