© Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
After the Portland Trail Blazers knocked off the Denver Nuggets to advance to the Western Conference Finals on Sunday afternoon, Damian Lillard was understandably ecstatic, and confident. However, he might not have been as openly confident about facing the Warriors as he was quoted as yesterday.
In an ESPN story by Royce Young, Lillard was quoted as saying, “They’re due. They’re due,” to a Nuggets ball boy, apparently regarding the prospect of beating the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
But today, Lillard said that wasn’t the case, and he was disappointed at the fact that he was apparently misquoted, and clarified that he did not say the Warriors are, in fact, “Due,” according to the Blazers’ NBA.com beat reporter, Casey Holdahl.
At the first media availability for the Western Conference Finals, @Dame_Lillard states emphatically that he did not say the Warriors “are due.”
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) May 13, 2019
According to Holdahl, Lillard said, “I was disappointed by that just because you don’t try to ear hustle and then quote me as saying something that I didn’t say, especially when you’re standing right next to me and you could have just asked me.”
"I was disappointed by that just because you don't try to ear hustle and then quote me as saying something that I didn't say, especially when you're standing right next to me and you could have just asked me." — @Dame_Lillard
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) May 13, 2019
The Warriors will face the Trail Blazers for Game 1 on of the Western Conference Finals tomorrow night at Oracle Arena at 6 p.m.
Western Conference Finals Schedule vs. Portland: pic.twitter.com/7c2emnurn1
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) May 12, 2019