Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard offered a blunt assessment of his team after Thursday night's 126-109 loss to the Houston Rockets.
"We kind of suck right now," he told reporters. "It's that simple."
The loss was Portland's second straight, following Tuesday night's 113-88 home loss to the Chicago Bulls, and dropped the Blazers' record to 7-6, putting them squarely in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference.
Thursday's performance also continued a disturbing trend for the team, which has allowed 111.3 points per game, second worst in the NBA. The Blazers rank 27th in the league in defensive efficiency (107.3), which measures the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions.
On Thursday, after entering halftime tied at 62, the Blazers were outscored 38-21 in the third quarter. Houston's James Harden finished with 26 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season.
"We're just not very good right now," said Lillard, who ranks fourth in the league with 28.8 points per game. "We've just got to keep fighting. It's important for our team to stay together, and I think that's one of the biggest strengths of our team, is we stay together. If we try to stay positive, and we just keep working and keep fighting, I think at some point it'll click.
"We'll get it right, and things will be fine. But I think everybody's frustrated."
The Blazers are off to an up-and-down start after finishing 44-38 last season and advancing to the second round of the playoffs, where they fell 4-1 to the Golden State Warriors. They'll look to turn things around Friday in the second game of a back-to-back at New Orleans.
"We can't get no worse, right?" forward Evan Turner said. "It's got to go somewhere. Obviously, communication just has to pick up. As a unit, we just have to be accountable and, once again, draw the line with stuff. Just continue to take it more personal and draw the line."
