When Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey chose to build around All-Star point guard Damian Lillard with a host of young, athletic acquisitions following the departure of several key veterans in the offseason, it was clear that more responsibilty would be placed on the 25-year-old’s shoulders both on and off the court.
The result on the court has been not only an increase from 21 to 24.8 points per game for Lillard, but the Oakland native is also averaging nearly one assist more per contest comared to last season with 7.2 helpers each night in 2015-16. After scoring 21 points and handing out 10 assists in Wednesday’s 99-85 win over the Utah Jazz at Moda Center, Lillard registered his eighth double-double of the season.
Just 33 games into the season (after missing eight with platar fasciitis), Lillard has already eclipsed his career-high of seven double-doubles recorded back in 2012-13 when he claimed the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
“He has the ball in his hands a little bit more; he has more responsibility,” head coach Terry Stotts said of Lillard’s increased distribution. “It’s hard to compare this year to past years, but obviously the roster is different. I think he’s in a position to make more decisions. You know the scoring is going to be there, but I’d say with the assists is that the last couple years, the last three years, we’ve had the players out there and just the dynamics are different. ”
“The ball is in my hands a lot,” Lillard agreed. “Obviously the more I have the ball, the more I’ll probably score or I’ll probably make an assist… Guys constantly move, guys fill-in behind, guys find open spaces on the court, transition guys running the floor: there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it where it’s not like I’ve gotta kill myself to make a play. The plays are there.”
Obviously, to record an assist, it takes more than just a ballhandler. Lillard is quick to credit his teammates and each of their individual skillsets for the jump in the assist column.
“Other than making shots, guys move really well without the ball,” he explained. “AC [Allen Crabbe] is constantly moving. CJ [McCollum] is constantly finding open spots, kinda like Wes [Matthews] used to. Meyers [Leonard] is a pick-and-pop big. Mase [Plumlee] drives hard to the rim. Ed [Davis], when I get in [the paint], his man usually comes over and he does a good job of making himself available… I’ve gotta credit the movement that we have now; we move a lot more. We’ve put emphasis on guys setting good screens and holding them, and they’ve done that.
“It’s really about what we’re doing as a team, there’s more opportunities to make plays.”
