Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers has some choice on the state of his team right now. Following Portland's 126-109 loss on Thursday night's game to the Houston Rockets, the All-Star guard told reporters his assessment of the team.
"We kind of suck right now," he told reporters. "It's that simple."
Thursday's game was the second straight loss for the Portland Trailblazers, following a 113-88 home loss to Dwayne Wade and the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night. The loss dropped their record to 7-6.
This season, the Portland Trailblazers are the second worst team in the NBA for points allowed per game. They are allowing 111.3 points per game. The Portland Trailblazers also ranked 27th in the league in defensive efficiency (which measures the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions) at 107.3.
Just by looking at the numbers, it's pretty obvious that defense is the biggest problem. In Portland's game against the Houston Rockets, they were outscored 41-29 in the first quarter and 38-21 in the third quarter. The Houston Rockets also scored 126.3 per 100 possessions and shot 48.4 percent from the field, 14-for-32 from the 3-point area 20-for-25 from the free throw line.
"We're just not very good right now," said Damian Lillard, who leads the team with 28.8 points per game, ranked fourth in the league. "We've just got to keep fighting. It's important for our team to stay together, and I think that's one of the biggest strengths of our team, is we stay together. If we try to stay positive, and we just keep working and keep fighting, I think at some point it'll click. We'll get it right, and things will be fine. But I think everybody's frustrated."
When asked if their defense can get better, forward Evan Turner said, "We can't get no worse, right? It's got to go somewhere. Obviously, communication just has to pick up. As a unit, we just have to be accountable and, once again, draw the line with stuff. Just continue to take it more personal and draw the line."
Damian Lillard added, "We've been bad on offense, bad on defense ... we are trying hard but we are not always making the smartest plays. We're just not very good right now.''
