Damian Lillard clarified his prediction from Tuesday that the Portland Trail Blazers would beat the Golden State Warriors in six games in their upcoming first-round playoff series."I was asked in six or seven [games], and I said six. It was a lighthearted exchange," Lillard told Chris Haynes of ESPN.com on Thursday. "But with that said, I do believe we can win the series."You can see his original comments below, per CSN Northwest:Those comments were quickly plastered all over social media. Though Lillard made it clear he was taken out of context, he isn't intimidated by the Warriors, as he toldSam AmickofUSA Today:First of all, anything can happen. It's the NBA. It's about playing right at the right time, playing well at the right time, and we believe that we can beat anybody. We're not going into the playoffs saying, 'Alright, we got here, we did a great job, we fought back and let's just go in here and put up a fight.' We're going in here and we want to win. Ain't no moral victories and all that. We're coming to win. They're a great team. Nobody expects us to beat them. We have nothing to lose.We're competitive. We believe in ourselves. It's going to be a tall task, but it's not like it's impossible. We're going in there to win it. We're going to go in there and put our best foot forward."I have a lot of respect for the Warriors," Lillard added on Thursday, per Haynes. "... We're playing our best basketball right now, and that has given us a lot of confidence."Indeed they are.The Blazers have gone 17-6 since the start of March, roaring into the postseason after a shaky four months preceding their hot finish. That allowed the Blazers to finish one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets for the final playoff seed in the West, which gave them a date with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the Warriors.The Blazers went 0-4 against the Warriors during the regular season, so they will be substantial underdogs. But with a backcourt of Lillard (27.0 PPG, 5.9 APG) and CJ McCollum (23.0 PPG), the Blazers are always a threat to win in a shootout. And with Jusuf Nurkic playing excellent basketball (15.2 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.9 BPG) since coming to Portland, the Trail Blazers have been a different team down the stretch.That may not be enough to beat the talented Warriors. But you can't blame Lillard and the rest of the Blazers for being confident heading into the series. For more news, rumors and related stories about Damian Lillard, the Portland Trail Blazers and the NBA, check out the NBA and Trail Blazers streams onBleacher Report's app.
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