Damian Lillard Feels Like He’s on a ‘Different Level’ This Year

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is feeling great about his season so far. Portland is sitting fifth in the Western Conference, and his MVP-like numbers are making a strong case for yet another NBA All-Star Game appearance. Lillard talked about his confidence to this point with Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl:

“I do feel that I’m on a different level this season,” said Lillard. “In the past, it was always like, explosive. I would have like a six-game stretch where I’d average 34 points and it would be like ‘Yeah, he had a great run’ and all this stuff.

”But I think from the start of this season to now, obviously the numbers are always there, but the impact of it is different. When we weren’t playing well offensively, I was scoring the ball. Now that guys are going and we’re playing against teams that we might have a better chance of beating, the playmaking, I’m controlling the game. I’m just controlling what’s happening. Maybe last year I did that a lot of the time, but this year, it’s always been there.”

Lillard says what’s helped him this year is his experience and understanding of the game in his seventh season. You can read more from Holdahl’s piece here.