Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers have their hands full in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs. They are going to face Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors but Lillard is confident that the Blazers will win the series in six games.
In an interview after the Blazers' final game of the regular season, Damian Lillard was asked about his thoughts on the Portland-Golden State matchup. He believes that the Blazers can shock the world and they can eliminate the Warriors in the first round.
"We're not going into the playoffs saying, 'Hey we made it, let's bow out gracefully and be happy with what we did'. We're going in there to take a swing. We're coming in there to try and shock the world," Lillard said, per The Oregonian.
The Blazers are currently underdogs against a Warriors team that boasts Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Although Damian Lillard is an All-Star, he only has CJ McCollum by his side since center Jusuf Nurkic is still not cleared to return.
If Nurkic can return against the Warriors, the Blazers will have a much better chance of getting the upset. The Warriors have a problem down low and they will have difficulty guarding a player like Nurkic, who is 7-foot tall and weighs around 280 pounds.
Damian Lillard and the Blazers were out of the playoff picture at the All-Star break but they have been playing great since acquiring Jusuf Nurkic. They were able to fend off the Denver Nuggets to secure the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Game 1 of the Warriors-Blazers series starts on Sunday, April 16 at the Oracle Arena in Damian Lillard's hometown of Oakland, California, per NBA.com. The Warriors swept the Blazers 4-0 in the regular season. However, the playoffs are a different stage and teams ramp up their game to another level.
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