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Lillard: 'There was Never Any Doubt' in Game Three Win Over Warriors

It's plastered on t-shirts, posters and banners around Portland. Commercials have filled local television and interrupted YouTube videos over the last few weeks:

"Never doubt Rip City." 

As Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors found out in the Trail Blazers' 120-108 Game Three victory at Moda Center on Saturday, it's more than a front office marketing slogan.

"That team, they had doubt," Green told the media following the Warriors defeat. "I could tell in the first quarter, they had doubt and we didn’t take advantage of that. Then we let them get going, hit a couple shots and now they’re feeling good about themselves."

If anything, others' doubt -- not self-doubt -- has been the driver of the Trail Blazers season. Doubters projected Portland to win as few as 26 games after the departure of four starters in the offseason; the Blazers won 44 games and earned the fifth seed in the Western Conference, eventually beating the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in six games in the First Round. Doubters said a small-guard backcourt couldn't be successful in today's NBA; Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for the second-highest scoring guard tandem in the league. Doubters didn't vote Lillard into the All-Star Game; the Blazer point guard averaged 25.1 points and 6.8 assists per game in 2015-16, both career highs. 

As expected, Lillard was caught off-guard by Green's thoughts of perceived self-doubt among this Blazer squad. 

"I don’t know what kinda games he playing, but we don’t play games over here," Lillard said Green's comments. "There was never any doubt in our minds, but maybe he needed to tell himself whatever he needed to tell himself. There was never any doubt; if there’s any doubt, you don’t beat a championship team.

"If that’s what he has to tell himself, then that’s perfectly fine."

After Saturday's Blazer win, the series stands at a 2-1 Warriors advantage ahead of Monday's pivotal Game Four matchup at Moda Center. Portland's mantra all postseason has been "It's not a series 'til someone wins on the road," and for good reason. The Trail Blazers are 4-0 at home in the 2016 Playoffs, and have won 13 of their last 14 games in Rip City.

What's more, the Blazers are the only team to beat the Warriors twice in 2015-16 with both wins coming at Moda Center. Over three games versus the defending NBA champions in Portland during the regular and postseason, Damian Lillard has put up averages of 43.6 points and eight assists. 

"They say a series doesn’t really start until a team wins on a road," Lillard said. "If we can take care of home the same way they did… I think in the first two games, especially the second game, we really challenged them. We had control of game for a lot of that game, so we know that we’re capable of getting it done. It’d be great to take care of home and go back [to Oakland] with it tied up."

Lillard continued: "I understand what type of game it is… When we play against them, it’s usually a faster-paced game. When we get stops, we’re able to push it back at them. When we’re playing them, I know I have to be in attack mode from start to finish for us to have a chance."

Even through early season struggles, Moda Center provided one of the best homecourts advantages in the NBA for the Trail Blazers, going 28-13 at home in the 2015-16 campaign. The Blazers are expecting more of the same on Monday in Rip City.

"Our fans been with us the whole year," center Ed Davis said after Game Three on Saturday. "When we were struggling, it was still a packed house — all the seats were still filled. We play a little — I don’t wanna say ‘extra hard,’ but we just have more juice when we’re at home because we have those fans to back us. They’re a big part of our success this year. Those games where we really didn’t have it, they pulled us through.

"When we come home, we feel unbeatable for some reason."