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The Trail Blazers have a date with the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, and finding a pundit that is willing to support the idea of a competitive series between the two teams is proving hard to come by. Despite the tough odds, it didn’t prevent Damian Lillard from having a little fun with his own prediction prior to Portland’s game against New Orleans last night.
When given the choice between the Blazers winning the series in six or seven games, Portland’s star guard responded with this:
Damian Lillard says @trailblazers in 6 games #NBAplayoffs pic.twitter.com/saNtJvrdWA
— CSN Northwest (@CSNNW) April 13, 2017
Lillard’s reply to the baited question didn’t go unnoticed, as Russell Westbrook appeared to support the idea of his former teammate Kevin Durant being ousted in the opening round of the playoffs.
Russell Westbrook seems to like Damian Lillard's prediction of Portland beating the Dubs in 6 pic.twitter.com/d0Z9oF0X1u
— Mike Goldfarb (@MikeGoldFool) April 13, 2017
The Blazers dropped all four of their meetings against the Warriors this season, which isn’t good news for a Portland team that was eliminated from contention last year at the hands of Golden State. Lillard played in all but one of those contests, but his scoring production is noticeably lower against the Warriors. In his three games against Golden State, Lillard averaged 23.3 points per game, which is nearly four points lower than his average, and marks his fifth-worst per game output against 29 NBA teams this season.
Portland will begin play against Golden State on Sunday, and they’ll return home to host the Warriors on the following Saturday. You can check out the full schedule and broadcast information by clicking here.