The shooting confrontation of the Steph Curry logo with Damian Lillard will have to wait, at least according to one of the participants.
The Warriors star commented in an Instagram post from the Portland Trail Blazers guard last month, with Curry joking that he would walk off the court with 18 seconds left on the clock if Lillard did. Unfortunately, Lillard told former NBC Sports Bay Area teammate and analyst Dorell Wright that the timing is not right for Portland’s visit to the Chase Center on Friday night.
“I think now, with the injuries the Warriors have been dealing with and Steph playing with a younger team now, he is seeing that it is difficult to get those quality looks now,” Lillard told Wright, his teammate in Portland in 2013 through 15, in an interview that airs Friday night on Warriors Pregame Live. The broadcast starts at 6:30 pm in the NBC Sports Bay Area.
“It is different from what it looked like in the last four or five years to him,” continued Lillard. “He’s trying to get a quality look and a clean look so he can make a good one. You really don’t have the luxury of taking one of those depths just to take it like in the past, and I’m likewise getting a lot of attention of defenses. “
Curry and Lillard also got off to a slow start, albeit under different circumstances. Curry lost every game except five last season with a broken hand, moving from nine months between what would be the last appearance in the 2019-20 regular season and his first in the 2020-21 campaign. Lillard, for his part, starred during the NBA season restart in his bubble outside Orlando, Florida, during the summer. The Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs on August 29, and Portland debuted this season just four months later, on December 23.
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After an abbreviated preseason that followed abnormal seasons, neither Curry nor Lillard found their shot. None of the players hit more than a third of their 3-point shots this season, let alone almost half of their field shots. Only once did each shooter hit at least 50% of the shots in a game this season.
“I’m trying to see the ball go in, so I’m not about to shoot just one,” said Lillard. “I have to start first, so I think we both see the same thing that way. Once the season starts and everyone gets in shape, I think that’s when you will see it.”
The falls of Curry and Lillard are not permanent, and each of them must rediscover his shot sooner or later. In other words? Don’t hold your breath for half-court heat checks on Friday or Sunday nights, but keep your calendars open when the Warriors visit Portland on March 3.
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