Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard made headlines earlier this week when he made the bold claim that he wants to be the 2016-17 NBA MVP. That suggestion isn’t entirely baseless — Lillard made the All-NBA Second Team last season and means as much to the Blazers as any one player does to his team — but it still registered as a big statement. Lillard is not considered one of the league’s five best players, so he clearly plans on making a leap into the elite in his fifth campaign.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]

His season-opening performance on Tuesday night at Moda Center made his goals look a lot more attainable. Lillard scored a game-high 39 points (13-of-20 from the floor, 4-of-6 from 3-point range, 9-of-9 at the foul line) and added nine rebounds and six assists in a 113-104 victory over the Utah Jazz. That scoring mattered, too — Lillard put up 16 in the fourth quarter as Portland out-scored Utah 36-21 to capture the win.

It was an up-and-down opener for the Blazers, who enter this season with raised expectations following an excellent performance in the playoffs last spring. Terry Stotts’s team depended on Lillard and reigning Most Improved Player C.J. McCollum (25 points on 8-of-16 FG) in much the same way they did last season, although the newly rich Allen Crabbe began to justify his contract with 18 points (4-of-5 3FG) off the bench. Portland won’t shoot 13-of-19 from beyond the arc every game and will have to answer concerns that they struggle defensively and lack playmakers apart from their stellar guards.

[BDL’s 2016-17 NBA Season Previews: In-depth looks at all 30 teams]

The Jazz should be able to see many silver linings to the loss. Playing without injured starters Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors, Utah traveled to a tough environment and found themselves in position to win late. New additions Joe Johnson (29 points on 12-of-16 FG) and George Hill (19 points and six assists) looked comfortable alongside their new team and even carried the team for stretches. The 35-year-old Johnson scored all but two of his points in the second half and brought the one-on-one scoring option that the Jazz lacked at times in 2015-16. They look on track to improve their win count considerably this season, just as we all expect.

It’s in many ways a shame that the NBA opted to bury this game underneath the headline-dominating Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. Both the Blazers and Jazz figure to nab solid playoff seeds by the end of this season — this matchup could look like one of the NBA’s most exciting by March. Check out both these squads at the next available opportunity.

– – – – – – –

Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @FreemanEric