As Damian Lillard Breaks out of Slump, Blazers Slowly Finding Their Identity

PORTLAND, Ore. — A lot has changed since the last time the Portland Trail Blazers played the Philadelphia 76ers at the beginning of November.

For one thing, Damian Lillard is no longer mired in the worst shooting slump of his career. In Saturday's rematch against the once again Joel Embiid-less Sixers, a 118-111 win, Lillard had by far his best performance of the season, putting up 39 points on 10-of-21 shooting and hitting five three-pointers. It was Portland's third win in a row and fourth in five games, putting the 9-8 Blazers back above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2.

Since a four-point performance Nov. 5 against the Indiana Pacers, Lillard is averaging 26.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game and shooting 45.4 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from beyond the arc. That's roughly in line with what he's done the past few seasons since becoming an All-NBA-level superstar and lends credibility to what he was preaching after that embarrassing Nov. 1 road loss to the Sixers.

"I said it after the last time we played Philly," Lillard said Saturday night. "These moments give you an opportunity to rise and something to come back from. It shows your true character—whether you can deal with struggles and criticism and everybody kicking you when you're down—and just continuing to fight that fight and find a way. The best of the best are capable of that."

Lillard sat out a Nov. 14 blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets to rest an abdominal injury he says he's been dealing with for several years. The injury affected him in last year's playoffs as well as during his time with Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics.

"It's something that I'll have to manage," Lillard said earlier this week.

As the Blazers organization is in turmoil off the court with the recent resignation of President and CEO Chris McGowan and an ongoing investigation into the workplace conduct of President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey, the team and Chauncey Billups' brand-new coaching staff are slowly starting to figure out what they are on the court.

Among the most encouraging non-Lillard developments: the emergence of third-year forward Nassir Little as a dependable hustle-and-energy guy, and new acquisition Larry Nance Jr.'s effectiveness as a small-ball center. Starting center Jusuf Nurkic has been very good at times, but his propensity for foul trouble has kept him off the floor in key moments, as it has over the past several years, and bench guard Anfernee Simons has cooled off after a hot start.

The same questions about how far the undersized backcourt of Lillard (6'2") and CJ McCollum (6'3") can go together still persist. Earlier this week, Billups flat-out admitted the Blazers "give up size every night" with the starting lineup featuring those two and Norman Powell (6'4"). Portland's defense, which Olshey blamed on former head coach Terry Stotts rather than the roster in making last summer's coaching change, is still 25th in the league, giving up 110.4 points per 100 possessions.

A little less explainable: the Blazers' home-road splits are comically lopsided. They haven't lost a game at the Moda Center since their season-opening dud against the Sacramento Kings, but their lone win on the road came against the 1-15 Houston Rockets. While every team likes to think it plays better with a friendly crowd, the difference is rarely this stark.

A veteran group and a new coaching staff feeling each other out is never a smooth process, but Lillard believes things are heading in the right direction in the past two weeks.

"It's challenging when you're having to play hard and you're having to remember what you're supposed to be doing," Lillard said. "That's taxing to your nervous system. It's draining to be like, 'OK, this is something different than what we've done under the same coaching staff for so long.'

"You're playing hard and using so much energy physically, and then mentally, you're also trying to remember, 'This is where I'm supposed to be, this is what I'm supposed to do.' Because it's not completely comfortable for us yet. We still are learning and figuring out everything with this new staff. So I think we're starting to get more comfortable with what we're doing and what our jobs are. It's taken less out of us."

The Blazers roster is flawed and probably has a ceiling somewhere above the lottery but below the true Finals contenders in the Western Conference. But no longer is there daily hand-wringing about Lillard's shooting struggles. He's rounding back into the Damian Lillard the Blazers are used to, and they're becoming the good-not-great team they usually are.

"Eventually, it will start to click," Lillard said. "I think over the last two weeks or so, the last five or six games, I'm starting to feel better and better. I still don't feel completely in form, but I can feel myself getting there."

      

Sean Highkin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and lives in Portland. His work has been honored by the Pro Basketball Writers' Association. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and in the B/R App.