Damian Lillard calls Avery Bradley NBA’s best wing defender

After Avery Bradley played excellent defense on Damian Lillard all night in the Boston Celtics’ 116-109 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Lillard called Bradley the NBA’s best perimeter defender.

As the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers gave us some gripping, fast-paced entertainment with their contest on Thursday night, Damian Lillard was far from being the decisive factor. His Trail Blazers won 116-109, but after he shot just 3-of-16 from the floor to scrape together 14 points, Lillard had Avery Bradley’s exceptional defense to thank for his struggles.

The Celtics played great team defense throughout the night, making Lillard and C.J. McCollum their obvious targets. With such emphasis on stopping them, switching tirelessly, smothering them off screens and leaving others open to maintain constant attention, players such as Al-Farouq Aminu (a career-high 28 points and six threes) were able to capitalize. Yet with Bradley on Lillard, the Blazers’ star was a non-factor for most of the game.

After the Trail Blazers scraped past for the win, Lillard was so impressed he told Bradley that he’s the best perimeter defender in the NBA (per Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald):

That’s high praise for anyone to give, let alone one of the best scorers in the league. Lillard is having his best season yet with career-highs of 6.9 assists and 25.2 points per game, leading the Trail Blazers past their gloomy preseason expectations at 40-36. And as the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA, Lillard knows how to handle tough defenders.

He still wasn’t enough against Bradley’s effort on Thursday. Besides the 6’2″ frame, athleticism and long wingspan, it’s his tireless effort that allows Bradley to guard multiple positions. From the way he can stay toe-to-toe with fast point guards like Damian Lillard or cover 6’8″ small forwards like Gordon Hayward in the post, he defines effort, talent and versatility at that end of the floor.

At the very least, Bradley should be regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders and one of the top few on-ball defenders in the game.

While stars such as Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and LeBron James may be the kind of defenders that most fans are used to, Bradley is still more than deserving of the recognition as one of the premier defensive players in the league. And as the Celtics continue their rise to contention, this should only help increase the amount of attention and praise he receives.

He’s one of the very best for plenty of reasons.

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