Can Portland Sustain Success Without Damian Lillard?

Portland Trail Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard is set to miss some time due to a calf strain, leaving the team with question marks early on in the season.

The Portland Trail Blazers have been as good as any team in the league through the first week-and-a-half of the 2022-23 NBA season, as they are a league-best 4-1 right now.

However, they lost 119-98 in their most recent game against the Miami Heat and All-Star guard Damian Lillard ended up leaving this game early due to a strained right calf.

On Thursday, the team stated that Lillard would be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks after an MRI confirmed a grade one strain of his right calf.

Damian Lillard Injury Update.

🔗: https://t.co/kUoqYo74d6

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 27, 2022

From being one of the best scorers in the league to recording close to 25 percent of the Trail Blazers’ assists this season, Damian Lillard does everything on the floor for Portland. Without thought, a lot of pressure falls on the shoulders of Anfernee Simons and the rest of this team’s secondary talent, pressure that could wind up spelling problems for this team.

Without Lillard on the floor last year, the Blazers posted a 15-38 record and since being drafted by Portland, the Trail Blazers are 34-57 without Lillard on the floor.

Portland has looked much improved on the defensive-end of the floor early on this season, as they are only allowing an average of 110.4 points per game to their opponents, the tenth-best mark in this league, but the success of their offense with Lillard leading the charge has allowed them to relax and settle in defensively in games.

Over 27 percent of the Trail Blazers’ total points this season have come from Damian Lillard, which is why Portland’s overall production on the offensive-end of the floor will decrease drastically over the next few weeks, further proving that their defense, which has been a liability through the years, will be the key to success.

The Trail Blazers will host the Houston Rockets on Friday night and then they will have a handful of days to rest up and work on their approach without Lillard, as Portland is not scheduled to play again until Wednesday, November 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies. From there, Portland will begin a six game road trip and will not have another home game until Nov. 15. 

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