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Jul 15

Video: Canales, Lillard and Leonard Post-Game

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By caseyholdahl Posted in: 2012summerleague

As Damian Lillard goes, so goes the Trail Blazers.

Okay, it's far to early to make those kinds of statements, but, at least for one night in Las Vegas, the above statement proved truthful. When Lillard struggled in the first half, shooting just 2 of 10 from the field while committing as many turnovers (2) as assists, so too did Portland, eventually falling behind to the Hornets 46-29 at the break.

But when Lillard settled into the game during the second, his teammates followed suit. Lillard finished the game with 29 points, four rebounds and four assists to lead Portland to their first victory of the 2012 Las Vegas Summer League, but just as important as his own stats was his impact on the players around him.

"I really wanted to show people that I can make plays and get guy's the ball," said Lillard. "I thought I got a lot of guys shots. Any time you can come in and make the guys around you better, get them easy shots, I feel like you're doing your job quite well. Just making the right plays, and I thought I did that."

Luke Babbitt finished with a 19 points and 10 rebounds after a 7-point, 4-rebound first half and Meyers Leonard also finished with a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) in 31 minutes.

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5 Comments

Very good 2nd half. I was really impressed by Lillard - Leonard combined performance

by Hoop#22 on 7/16/2012 1:04 AM
Hey Casey: I am a happy camper to say the least. I never got to watch the second half as I had a dead-line at work, like the establishment was closing and I didn't have a key☺☻. I have the game recorded and assuredly will watch the second half ASAP.
The first half was discouraging because the shots wasn't falling, and I was saying oh no the curse of last year is still upon us; it is encouraging like last year we didn't give up and kept plugging away, and like last year we won more games when we came out slow and finished strong then we did coming out strong and finishing weak; the famous Miss Kassandra keeps preaching that you have to play 48 minutes, but in this case I thought we played hard and that is what I was looking for; but hey, this is a whole new year, a whole new team and the first most of them has had to play together. example Nolan and Wesley looked comfortable together and they settled down the new ones.
I do babble when I am happy☺☻.

by Hg on 7/16/2012 5:33 AM
Wow i was impressed how lillard was making use of his bigs. He seemed to know what he was doing out there he would call in the bigs for a pick and roll play. And him and myeres seemed to have a connection. Sure the first half didnt go that well. I was not expecting it too. Houston had alot of nba guys on there team so the jitters were few with the exception of rivers. During the second half you could see that the jitters died down and these guys took control. I was also impressed with wess he was a leader out there and im hoping he can transfer that over to this year. If he could step up and be a leader that will be good for us. I just wish i got to see some elliot williams.

by Avgjoe28 on 7/16/2012 9:18 AM
i really liked lillards performance but he "only" scored 25 as far as i know.
i feel like the 4 assist can'T really capture what he did out there because some of the guards like diebler just shot the ball pretty badly eventhough lillard got the ball to them when they were open

by lrac on 7/16/2012 12:47 PM
I Thought Leonard was the most impressive as far as I'm concerned. I knew he was a big body but holy smokes can he run. The amount of heart he has on the court is very impressive and fits right inline with the Rip City tradition. Not to mention that he can hit his FT's!!
Now Lillard... What can I say. He was fantastic.I love his effort and how he uses his shoulders to draw contact and isn't scared to take it to the iron. The step back 3 is what sealed it for me. Talk about Ice in the veins. Now he did miss his last two FT's but one rattled out so I'm not concerned at all about that.
Very happy about last night. I thought the rookies showed great mental fortitude while being down 17 going into the half. I have High hopes for the season and maybe this will show Batum that we are still contenders and we do plan on running more.

by Jussst_Incase on 7/16/2012 2:23 PM