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PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard said he feels strong after his return from a torn left Achilles tendon in a pregame interview with NBC on Tuesday night, before the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder at Moda Center. He is nine games into his first regular season back with Portland after missing all of 2025-26 with a torn left Achilles tendon.
Lillard picked taking care of the ball as the team stat that would show whether Portland played well. He described Oklahoma City’s defense as aggressive.
Damian Lillard Back Home After Achilles Recovery
NBC asked Lillard what wearing the Trail Blazers uniform in front of Portland fans meant to him. “I feel strong, and you know, the best is yet to come,” Lillard said in that answer. Portland is his home, he said, and being back with the Trail Blazers, around his family and people he is familiar with, has been great. Coming back from a major injury required a lot, he said, and he is at peace and happy.
On April 27, 2025, Lillard went down in the first quarter of Game 4 of the Milwaukee Bucks’ first-round series against the Indiana Pacers. He had returned for Game 2 of that series after missing Milwaukee’s final 14 regular-season games with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. The Bucks announced the next day that an MRI revealed a torn left Achilles tendon and that he would undergo surgery. Milwaukee waived him that July.
The Trail Blazers announced on July 19, 2025, that they had signed Lillard to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed. The team’s release listed him as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 19,376 points. He averaged 25.2 points across 769 regular-season games in his first 11 seasons in Portland, then made the All-Star team in both of his seasons with Milwaukee.
His rehab ran about 16 months, according to The Associated Press. Lillard played his first game back in the preseason opener Oct. 7, scoring 15 points in 19 minutes of a 123-118 win over the Golden State Warriors. Two weeks later, in the Oct. 21 season opener at Moda Center, he scored 25 points and made 6 3-pointers in a 124-83 win over the Phoenix Suns. Through nine games entering Tuesday, Lillard averaged 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
Ball Security And Rebounding Against The Thunder
Over the last couple of games, Lillard said, Portland has struggled with ball security and with “not valuing possessions enough,” and it has hurt the team. Getting shot attempts without turning the ball over would come first, he said.
Portland won at Phoenix on Nov. 4, when Lillard scored 25 points, and then lost its next two games. Lillard had 22 points and 4 turnovers in 37 minutes during a Nov. 6 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles. A night later, the Trail Blazers fell 125-103 at home to the San Antonio Spurs. Lillard finished that game with 12 points and 7 assists in 20 minutes.
“When we dominate the glass, we play well,” Lillard said in the same answer. He said rebounding is an area where Oklahoma City struggles and that Portland should be in good shape if it handles both. Tip-off was set for 10 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock.
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