After a 17-point defeat, it's now or never.
Though the Portland Trail Blazers entered their first-round clash with the New Orleans Pelicans as the higher seed, they've dug themselves into a 3-0 hole. The odds are now stacked against them if they want a shot at challenging the Golden State Warriors for a berth in the Western Conference Finals. And if they're going to flip the script, Damian Lillard has to show up.
Overstating Lillard's performance during the regular season is nearly impossible. Though he plays at a loaded position with plenty of worthy candidates, he should be a near lock for an All-NBA spot after thriving from start to finish. Constantly taking tough shots and shouldering immense offensive loads for Rip City, he even improved his pick-and-roll defense to become a complete threat at the point.
But suffocated by Jrue Holiday and a Pelicans defense intent on stifling the life out of his offensive game, he's struggled throughout the postseason—a strange development for a player who prides himself on clutch play and has thrived during previous playoff affairs. Through the first two games of the series, he averaged just 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 31.7 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from downtown.
"Lillard's allure is predicated on his prowess in clutch situations; Big Game Dame's closing arguments for All-NBA honors came in Portland's closing minutes," wrote for The Ringer after defeat No. 2. "But what's a nickname if it doesn't ring true on the biggest stage?"
Somehow, the new narrative didn't just continue. It got worse on Thursday night.
If ever a player looked like they got Monstared prior to a postseason outing, it was Lillard in Game 3. He couldn't get anything going against the NOLA defense before making a few tough buckets with the margin already well into double digits. And when he wasn't getting off shots that failed to find twine, he was coughing up possessions en route to an all-around ugly night.
When the game mercifully ended, the floor general had 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and eight turnovers while going 5-of-14 from the field and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. His shooting slash line on the series is now up—yes, this actually helped his numbers— to a putrid 32.7/32.0/91.7.
Changing this isn't going to be easy. Holiday is locked in on the preventing end, capable of handling this difficult matchup all on his lonesome. But his job is made even easier by the presence of Anthony Davis, who's waiting to guard the interior whenever his point guard pushes foes into his territory.
Lillard simply has to make tough, contested shots going forward. Easy ones aren't coming. Though you wouldn't know it if you're just starting to tune in, that's something he's done all year, hitting 51.3 percent of his regular-season looks with the closest defender within two feet—actually the highest percentage he'd post against any defender range.
Now, he just seems shaken. Not only did he fail to make a single bucket with defense classified as "very tight" by NBA.com in the first two losses, but the frequency with which he fired away in that situation literally halved. That didn't change in Game 3, as he was again frustrated into deferments and misfires. He's not even frequenting the free-throw stripe anymore.
Again, this has to change.
If Lillard flops yet again in what could be the final contest of the series, it won't diminish what he did throughout the first 82 games, establishing himself as an All-Star, All-NBA candidate and fringe MVP threat. But it will change his reputation, canceling out those gesticulations to an imaginary watch that indicate how comfortable he is playing with the pressure cooker turned up to 11.
Saturday's Game 4 is his biggest stage yet. The stakes haven't been higher, though the climb out of this 3-0 pit will be long and arduous. Now more than ever, Portland needs for it to finally become Dame Time.
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