Damian Lillard is ridiculous. The Portland Trail Blazers’ superstar scored 42 points and dished out 12 assists in a thrilling 134-133 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night in the bubble.
And it was a crucial victory. With the win, the Trail Blazers clinch the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed, and now will have a play-in series with the No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies for the right to face the No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers.
With under 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Portland trailed by seven. That’s when Dame decided to break out the logo three (one of his eight threes on the night), and he casually nailed it.
It wasn’t just offense for Lillard in this game either. The five-time All-Star made an incredible steal that led to a C.J. McCollum bucket, which gave Portland a 134-130 lead with 53.4 seconds remaining.
Dame steal. CJ bucket.
pic.twitter.com/YYyRVO3BKE — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 14, 2020
But back to the offense, because it’s been an absolutely absurd run for Lillard to finish the regular season. Over the last three games, Lillard scored 154 freakin’ points: 51 on Aug. 9 vs the Philadelphia 76ers, 61 on Aug. 11 vs the Dallas Mavericks, and 42 on Thursday. No player in NBA history had scored 154 points in the final three games of a season. No player had even scored 40-plus points in three straight games to finish a season.
All three games were Blazers wins, all by three points or fewer. Lillard put this team on his back and carried them to the No. 8 seed.
The play-in series against the Grizzlies begins on Saturday. If the Blazers win that game, the series is over. The Grizzlies would need to win on both Saturday and Sunday to advance.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.