Damian Lillard on Possible Lakers Playoff Matchup: 'I Think We Could Beat Them'

Damian Lillard's confidence has never been in question, and the 29-year-old All-Star seems as confident as ever in his Portland Trail Blazers heading into the NBA restart. 

Lisa Robinson of Vanity Fair asked Lillard if he would want to face the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers in a first-round playoff series. "Of course," he answered. "I think we could beat them."

The NBA return-to-play plan includes the 22 teams within six games of clinching a playoff berth. The top six Eastern and Western Conference teams are already qualified for the postseason.

The 29-37 Blazers sit in ninth and will be fighting for their playoff lives once the 2019-20 season resumes at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, on July 31.

The league's official release outlined the format:

"The season restart would begin with eight 'seeding games' for each returning team and include the possibility of a play-in tournament for the eighth and final playoff seed in each conference depending on combined records across regular-season games and seeding games. Once the 16-team playoff field is set, the NBA Playoffs would proceed in a traditional conference-based format with four rounds and best-of-seven series in each round.  The NBA Finals would end no later than Oct. 12."

The plan passed last week on a 29-1 vote with the Blazers as the lone opposing team, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski:

Lillard said last month that he was only interested in participating in a restart if the Blazers were given the chance to make the playoffs.

"I feel like a play-in tournament would be perfect, just because we actually were in striking distance and also had enough games to get in the playoffs," Lillard told ESPN's Jalen & Jacoby on May 27 (h/t ESPN's Nick Friedell).

As for how Portland would fare against the Lakers, the five-time All-Star also told Jalen & Jacoby that LeBron James is his NBA MVP this season:

Portland was 1-2 against the Lakers prior to the regular season getting suspended March 11 in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, Lillard dropped a game-high 48 points—including 7-for-12 from three—in a 127-119 win over the Lakers at Staples Center on Jan. 31.

Lillard was the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA when the hiatus began, averaging a career-high 28.9 points alongside 7.8 assists.

The Blazers have made the playoffs six straight seasons, losing in the conference semifinals (2014, '16) or first round ('15, '17, '18) before making it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000 last year.