“Anfernee Simons has really played more like Damian Lillard than Dame has himself!”: NBA Twitter applauds the Blazers’ 22-year-old amid his incredible recent form

Anfernee Simons has really stepped up big for the Portland Trail Blazers in the absence of superstar guard Damian Lillard.

The Portland Trail Blazers suffered a huge blow as Damian Lillard sat out earlier this month with a lingering abdominal injury. With the team’s starting point guard out indefinitely, Anfernee Simons stepped up to fill in the vacancy, and so far, has been doing a pretty phenomenal job.

Some would argue Simons has been a better starting guard than Dame was this season, considering his slump. And well, the numbers speak for themselves…

In the 29 games Lillard played this season, the Olympic gold medalist averaged 24 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists on a subpar 40.2/32.4/87.8 shooting split. Whereas, in the 11 games as a starter, the 22-year-old youngster has put up 21.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 6.6 assists, while committing fewer turnovers and at a better 48.3/40.2/91.2 shooting split.

However, in the last 8 games, since Lillard was out of the lineup, Simons has taken things on a different level altogether. In this period, Anfernee has averaged 26.3 points, 7.9 assists, and 2.6 rebounds which includes a historic 43-point outburst against the Hawks and 3 7+ 3PM games.

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NBA Twitter lauds Anfernee Simons for his recent increase in productions

As soon as the stats from his past few games went viral, NBA Twitter blew up with reactions.

Also Read: NBA Twitter applauds the Hawks star for being the 1st player ever to achieve a specific one-of-a-kind stat line

Anfernee has yet to reach his true potential, and if you are a Portland fan, seeing his progress will surely be encouraging. With Dame to miss a few more weeks, Simons has enough time to continue to make an impact, and join the MIP conversations.