Last week, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard jumped into the NBA's weekly "Race to the MVP" rankings for the first time during the 2015-16 season by virtue of leading the Trail Blazers to win in 11 of their past 13 games while scoring at least 30 points in five straight games. The 6-3 guard debuted at No. 6 in the rankings, which also happened to be Portland's place in the Western Conference standings with just over a month of games left to be played in the regular season.
This week, Lillard once again finds himself at No. 6 in updated MVP rankings after helping the Trail Blazers ensure at least a .500 record on their current six-game road trip, which continues tonight in Toronto against the white-hot Raptors, with wins versus the Bulls, Pacers and Knicks...
While Lillard and the Trail Blazers can return home with their heads held high regardless of the result in tonight's contest and the trip finale Sunday night in Detroit versus the Pistons, getting at least one more win would turn what has already been a good trip into a great one while improving Lillard's chances of moving into the Top 5 of MVP rankings next week.
Lillard is ranked by San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard at No. 5 and ahead of Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook at No. 7. Lillard's matchup in tonight's game, Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry, is ranked No. 8.