Portland’s megastar Damian Lillard captivated the NBA audience with his first-round performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now, hours before Game 1 of the conference semifinals, Lillard has been the Nuggets’ difficulty.
“In this league, right now, you cannot lock someone (such as him up),” stated Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. “Maybe we could keep him below 25. However, it’s still 25. Or 30. But he’s playing a level of basketball, so it’s gonna be a excellent task for us. ”
In four games during the regular season, the Nuggets had more success than most teams against Lillard by limiting him to 21.3 points on 37 percent shooting from the field. Gary Harris will probably draw the assignment of containing him, and it’s that matchup that will probably have the largest influence on the results of this second-round series.
Even before the series tipped off, the respect Lillard has garnered one of the Nuggets was palpable at Monday&rsquo.
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“He’s been killing in the playoffs,” Jamal Murray stated. “I’ve been following every game. We just gotta make him uneasy. ”
Murray, the Nuggets&rsquo point guard, said he has learned from watching how Lillard conducts himself.
“For sure, someone I look around,” he said. “Especially his game, his confidence in how he takes threes, how he leads his group. He’s not a guy, but leads with example. ”
If he drew the defensive assignment, Murray joked he didn’t know how far past the line it was reasonable to guard him. Lillard hit a 37-foot shot to beat the Thunder in Game 5.
“How high could you guard him? ” Murray said laughing. “I’m gont stay in the logo. If he pulls up out there, just shake his hand. ”
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Denver’s success could be predicated on Murray’s ability to match Lillard’s intensity. That’s just one component of Murray respects Lillard so much.
“Just him ” Murray said. “The way he loves the game, how he plays, the fire, his toughness, his competitiveness. He goes at his opponents. He loves to compete. I like to compete. It’s a respect factor. Just go at one another and the best man wins. It’s just going to be a lot of fun to go against a guy that is similar. ”
Lillard, who spoke to reporters Sunday at Pepsi Center while the Nuggets were recovering from their dramatic Game 7 win, acknowledged something similar regarding Murray.
“He’s rdquo; he said, & a really good, young guard. “He’s really aggressive, really confident, and he’s played a big role in the success of the group. If you want to beat this group, you’re going to need to keep both those guys (Jokic and Murray) under control. ”
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