When the 2022-23 NBA season started, the Portland Trail Blazers were one of the only undefeated teams in the league.
Oh, how times have changed.
The team is now 19-21 and 11th in the West and their chances of postseason success are slipping away with every loss.
Speaking of defeats, the Blazers have now lost four in a row.
Damian Lillard: "I think right now we just struggle in being consistent. We're in a ditch right now as far as that and it's where you got to be mentally tough. You gotta be able to not like these moments, but you gotta be able to deal with them and just keep pushing forward." pic.twitter.com/p1KbouG0nA
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) January 11, 2023
On Tuesday night, Portland was taken down by the Orlando Magic in a painful 109-106 game that had many Blazers fans shaking their heads.
This was a team that the Trail Blazers would have beaten, according to most fans and analysts.
But even with 30 points from team leader Damian Lillard, the Blazers couldn’t pull out a W.
Following the game, Lillard was honest about the team’s struggles:
“I think right now we just struggle in being consistent. We’re in a ditch right now as far as that and it’s where you got to be mentally tough. You gotta be able to not like these moments, but you gotta be able to deal with them and just keep pushing forward.”
Lillard is right: the team does have serious consistency issues and has for a very long time.
He is also correct when he says the team is in a rut right now – and it’s one that could doom the franchise for the foreseeable future.
This is something that Portland fans have gotten used to over the last few years, the team seems to always be on the verge of being great but never really reaching their potential.
How much longer will Lillard give statements like this before a huge change is made within the organization?
And will that possible change involve him?
NEXT: Damian Lillard Comments On Whether He Is The Best Player In Blazers History