Blazers finding more ways to win, with Damian Lillard pointing to ‘playing for each other’

The Trail Blazers are giving opponents more to worry about than Damian Lillard. And Lillard sounds perfectly comfortable with that.

Portland’s 123-103 win over the Thunder on Tuesday offered a look at what this group can become when the ball moves, the pace picks up and several players get involved. Lillard scored 25 points, Deni Avdija added 24 points and eight assists, and six Blazers reached double figures.

But Lillard’s explanation went beyond who made the shots.

“I thought we just executed well,” Lillard said, via Portland Trail Blazers On SI⁠. “(Donovan Clingan), Rob, they set the screens higher up on the floor, so it was just more space.”

He also pointed to getting into the offense before Oklahoma City could establish its defense, with Lillard working off the ball more in transition.

“It was the randomness — I would say — and just us playing for each other,” he said.

That’s an encouraging combination. Lillard can still carry stretches of an offense. The Blazers become considerably tougher to handle when they don’t need him to carry every possession.

Avdija provided scoring and playmaking, while Sidy Cissoko contributed 17 points. Toumani Camara added 12, and Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson each scored 11. Clingan collected 13 rebounds.

As Eddie Bitar of Fadeaway World noted⁠, Portland’s perimeter production created a sizable advantage. The Blazers made 19 threes to the Thunder’s eight, while committing just nine turnovers.

Those are good ways to keep a dangerous opponent from getting comfortable. So is making Shai Gilgeous-Alexander work for his points. He finished with 26 on 8-of-22 shooting.

Coach Micah Nori credited timely baskets from Avdija and Lillard with giving Portland enough separation to avoid a tense finish.

“They weren’t able to close the lead enough to where Shai came back into the basketball game (in the fourth quarter),” Nori said.

Keeping Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench for the fourth qualifies as a pretty good night’s work.

The larger opportunity is building an offense that keeps producing these kinds of contributions. Portland has experienced guards, a versatile creator in Avdija and younger players finding ways to help. Against the Thunder, those pieces worked together.

That’s more meaningful than simply hoping Lillard gets hot.

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