Damian Lillard: We're 'not playing defense with enough urgency'
The Portland Trail Blazers allowed the Denver Nuggets to score 108 points on Monday night, a high total for a team that's struggled on offense this season.
But it's not much of a surprise. The Trail Blazers have the 20th ranked defense in basketball, and are loaded with players who aren't known for their work on that end of the floor. But star point guard Damian Lillard doesn't view this as an excuse, per The Oregonian:
The Trail Blazers are shooting the ball as well as anyone right now, but to compete for the eight spot they really need to shore up their effort and intensity on defense.
Lillard finished with 30 points and seven assists, Mason Plumlee had 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and McCollum shook off a cold start to finish with 16 points. But it wasn't enough on a night the Blazers' defense — yet again — underwhelmed. "Right now, we're just not playing defense with enough urgency," Lillard said. "I think it just comes down to us tightening up. We've got to tighten up ... understand that we have to do those things if we want to give us a chance to win games."
