After carding a 49-33 record last season to finish as the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers are gearing up for the 2018-19 campaign when they face the Toronto Raptors in a pre-season joust this Saturday at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.
Leading the charge for the Blazers is All-Star point guard Damien Lillard, who appeared in 73 games and averaged an all-around fare of 26.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists per.
The 28-year old Lillard, a three-time All-Star from Weber State University, finished fourth in the MVP last season. When asked about going for the award, which James Harden of the Houston Rockets eventually won, Lillard told The Athletic "Why shouldn't I?"
Besides Lillard, the Blazers flaunt an impressive firepower that includes Jusuf Nurkic (14.3 points, 9.0 rebounds per), C.J. McCollum 21.4 points, 3.4 assists per)/ Portland also has in it lineup Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, Gary Payton II, Zach Collins, Myers Leonard, Wade Baldwin IV, Jake Layman, Chinau Onuaku, Nik Stauskas, and Seth Curry, the brother of Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
The Raptors on't be easy to beat though. They are led by former San Antonio Spurs juggernaut Kawhi Leonard and they are playing in their home country. Leonard was traded this past off-season for DeMar DeRozan who landed in San Antonio.
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