Damian Lillard said he had heard all the chatter about how he wouldn’t be the same ol’ Dame after the serious Achilles injury and turning 36 years old.
It took him just one game to silence that narrative.
Lillard will look to post a second straight stellar effort when the Portland Trail Blazers attempt to follow up their dominating season debut and battle the host Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Lillard made six 3-pointers and scored 25 points in his first game in nearly 18 months when the Trail Blazers hammered the visiting Phoenix Suns 124-83 in Wednesday’s season opener. He injured the Achilles during the 2025 postseason while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks but very much looked like the star player that was the face of the Portland franchise from 2012-23.
“I’ve felt good for months now,” said Lillard, who sat out last season after returning to Portland. “There might have (been) people who were skeptical because they haven’t seen me.”
The contest was Lillard’s first with the Trail Blazers in nearly 43 months and he received a thunderous ovation during pre-game introductions.
But perhaps most exciting to Lillard was how well Portland played. The Trail Blazers scored the first 21 points and led by as many as 52 points before settling for the third-largest season-opening winning margin in franchise history.
“It was a great way to start this chapter for our team,” Lillard said. “We shared the ball, we played together.”
The contest was the first under new coach Micah Nori and with Ja Morant as the starting point guard. Morant was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in the offseason. He had 14 points and eight assists.
“He’s competing at the highest level now, because he knows he’s on a team that has a chance to win a lot of basketball games,” Nori said. “He’s a very good passer as we saw.”
Deni Avdija recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Toumani Camara also scored 18 points for Portland, which led by 31 after one quarter.
Sacramento didn’t fare as well in its season debut as it was trampled 121-96 by the host Los Angeles Clippers.
The Kings were just 8 of 28 from 3-point range in the contest and were outscored 32-16 in the third quarter.
“There just wasn’t enough ball movement,” Sacramento coach Doug Christie said. “Sometimes we were letting our offense affect our defense and that can’t happen. We have to continue to trust the process.”
Zach LaVine stood out with 28 points, and Domantas Sabonis collected 18 rebounds to go with 14 points for the Kings.
However, rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. experienced a shaky debut, shooting 5-for-24 and missing all seven 3-point attempts while scoring 12 points in 35 minutes.
Christie said he wasn’t worried about Acuff’s debut. He said that is part of the growing pains for a rookie NBA player.
“He’s young and learning when to shoot and when to pass, time and score, all those different things,” Christie said. “He’s one I don’t worry about. He’ll be fine. He takes this absolutely personally. He wants to win more than anything.”
Acuff averaged 23.5 points and 6.4 assists last season as a consensus first-team All-American in his lone campaign at Arkansas.
Forward Keegan Murray also struggled, missing all four of his 3-point attempts while making just 1 of 8 shots.
Portland went 4-0 against the Kings last season. In the Dec. 18 game in Portland, Sacramento closed with a 17-2 run in regulation to force overtime before falling 134-133.
