Lillard thinks 'it's possible' for Trail Blazers to reach Finals

The Portland Trail Blazers won 44 games and reached the Western Conference semifinals last season, which came as a surprise to many people.

Damian Lillard wasn't one of them.

The Trail Blazers star had set a goal ahead of 2015-16 to make the playoffs, which seemed like a reach at that point considering he was the only starter the club retained.

A full calendar year later, Portland has the highest roster-retention rate, according to John Schuhmann of NBA.com. With that continuity comes higher expectations.

"This year I want to get to the Western Conference finals and give ourselves a chance to get to the Finals," Lillard told ESPN's J.A. Adande. "I think it's possible."

Related: Lillard says Blazers 'don't have reason to be complacent' about last year's success

The Trail Blazers took down the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the postseason before bowing out in five games to the Golden State Warriors.

Despite only taking one game from the 73-win Warriors, Portland held a lead for the majority of the series. The Trail Blazers had more points for 137 minutes, versus 95 for Golden State, per ESPN. Lillard sees that as a testament to his squad's perseverance and will.

"We learned we had some fight in us," the All-Star point guard said. "We wanted it.

"We could've easily laid down ... We could've said: 'All right, we got out of the first round ... this (Warriors) team lost nine games.' We could have laid down, but we didn't."

Lillard thinks that fight bodes well for the Trail Blazers moving forward as they attempt to go even deeper in the 2017 playoffs. They're not exactly favorites to come out of the West, though, as oddsmakers have them winning the fifth-most games in the conference.