Isolation and high pick and roll have often been a go-to for Damian Lillard. Not always blessed with the calibre of teammates that contemporaries Stephen Curry and James Harden have, Lillard has had to put the Trail Blazers on his back many times in his eight seasons in town.
This year, without the physical presences on the wing or at the big men positions, offensive rebounding and posting up is gone. Attacking the basket from the wing is a struggle too. And with big man Jusuf Nurkic missing for almost 12 months, passing out of the post hasn’t been an option either.