Damian Lillard had a slow start to the season – He has since picked up pace.
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Damian Lillard, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Three big names that have struggled at the start of the season, but have finally began to pick up the pace. What unites these three names along with Steph Curry is that this bunch is the only set of players in the last 10 seasons to have had 40 40 point games.
All of them are volume shooters, which makes it easier. Plus they like shooting from three’s and drawing fouls, which is the best recipe to score a 40 piece. Over the past 10 seasons, James Harden has taken a minimum of 8 FTs a game. He’s completely abandoned the mid-range, and there is no wonder he has one of the highest average points per season.
Damian Lillard is very similar, although 3 less FT’s a game, he makes 1 three pointer more than Harden, which evens it out. We do not even need to talk about Steph and his antics beyond the three. Russell Westbrook and his infamous stat padding is well known league wide as well.
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Scoring streaks do not matter much if it does not translate to winning titles – Damian Lillard should take a leaf out of Steph’s book
Out of the four people who are in this rarefied air, only one has ever won a championship. Stephen Curry may be scoring at will – but he also is not selfish. The other three are somewhat of a ball hog – stat padders if you please.
The Nets and the Lakers may be super teams, but only James Harden may be on track to win a title this season. But then again, they still have to face the rampant Curry and the GSW in the finals. With the way things are going, it will most definitely be a slugfest.
Lillard can be commended for staying with the team that drafted him. Loyalty is something that is lost in this league right now, and Dame is one of the last guys left. But if the loyalty does not translate into winning, there is no point staying. Allen Iverson may have been one of the best guards to ever play, but he has no ring. AI would trade away all of his personal achievements if it meant he could win a championship.