Video: Damian Lillard Talks Warriors Sweep, Says Blazers Had 'Great Season'

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard won't let a sweep by the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals overshadow what he believes was a "great season."

After a 119-117 overtime loss in Game 4 on Monday night, Lillard said:

"I think it was just a special season for us. Coming off back-to-back sweeps, I mean it's another sweep, but you'd rather be swept in the Western Conference Finals than in the first round. I just think we look back at the season overall and the way we responded after a lot of people got on our cases, a lot of people came down on us. And we got back to work. Each guy came back better individually, and we put together a great season. ...

"... It takes a real group to be able to come together in those hard times—on more than one occasion. And I thought we did that. You know, we put together a great season. We put ourselves in position to go to the Finals. I think every other team in the league would wish they could be in our shoes—not only making the playoffs but getting the opportunity to play for a chance to go to the Finals. We just ran up on a team who's been there the last four years."

Entering the season, Portland had lost 10 consecutive playoff games while being swept in the first round the past two years. That included falling to the DeMarcus Cousins-less New Orleans Pelicans in the opening round as a three seed last season.

That prompted trade rumors throughout the offseason, but the Blazers didn't break up their core.

As Lillard noted, team owner Paul Allen died in mid-October. Then, center Jusuf Nurkic suffered a season-ending leg injury in late March. Through it all, Portland maintained its focus.

The third-seeded Trail Blazers made quick work of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, dispatching MVP candidate Paul George, Russell Westbrook and Co. in five games. They then needed seven games to get past the second-seeded Denver Nuggets to set up the matchup with Golden State.

With Cousins and Kevin Durant (and eventually Andre Iguodala in Game 4) sidelined by injuries, Portland had opportunities to dethrone the two-time defending champs. The Blazers led by 15-plus points in each of the final three games only to watch the Warriors rally in the second half.

It will go down as a sweep, but the Trail Blazers gave the Warriors all they could handle after Game 1.

This was the deepest playoff run by the franchise since 2000, and the Blazers had been eliminated in the first round in nine of their last 11 postseason appearances.

With Lillard and CJ McCollum under contract through the 2020-21 season, Portland could be even more dangerous moving forward, especially if the juggernaut in Golden State gets broken up.