Those were the tough first nine games of the 2021-22 season for Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard.
However, the six-time All-Star star is showing signs of turning around and seems to have regained his form and form. True to his prediction, he is starting to do ‘long range’ long pointers again on a more consistent basis and contribute to the team’s game changer.
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On Tuesday night in a 119-100 win over the Denver Nuggets, the team’s ninth home win and fourth in a row, he finished with 25 points with an efficiency of 9/13 from the field and 5/8. from a distance of 3 points. .
Yes, faced a lackluster Nuggets team playing without reigning MVP Nikola Jokic but Lillard stepped up as expected and was the spark behind the team’s performance in the second quarter that really helped them. control this game.
With all 11 lead changes coming in the first half, Portland ran away with the game in the finals three minutes of the first half by continuing to run 18-3 and Lillard is responsible for 13 of them.
This is Lillard’s eighth game in a row to score at least 22 points while taking average kills 3.9 3 pointers per game.
During this time period, he averaged 26.3 points when it comes to shooting from long distance is 47.4% and from distance is 40.8%, including his highest scoring 39 points in recent season.
Those numbers represent a huge leap from his rough start to the 2021-22 campaign.
The first 9 games Abysmal
For a player averaging 24.7 points with 43.9 shots from the field and 37.5 points off the arc (three three points per game), Lillard struggled a lot early on.
From the new Wilson ball to the new official rules accepted by the referees or lasting effects of abdominal trauma he has been playing through.
In his first nine games, he averaged just 17.8 points per game with his shot unmarked. In a portion of these nine games, he’s had three games where his 3-pointer shot is astounding: 0/9 (October 20 vs Kings), 0 of 8 (25 vs. October vs Clippers) and 0/6 (November 5 vs Pacers).
Overall, he averaged 17.8 points when shooting splits 33.7 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from outside the arc.
With the standard of play normally expected of him, Blazers fans will be delighted that these early games are now behind him.
