The Bulls led by five points with 11 seconds to go, after Coby White hit two free throws. It was when Damian Lillard decided to briefly transcend his human form and ascend to a higher plane of existence.
The Blazers advanced to the half court with a time limit and received the ball for Lillard. He pulled up 37 feet and drained to cut the Chicago lead to two.
Portland arrested Zach LaVine in the corner while Chicago entered the ball. A ball at the top was called with six seconds remaining. If the Bulls won the tip, they would have a chance to get the win on the foul line.
The Bulls did not win the lead.
Lillard did it again, this time with a filthy side step to shake Lauri Markkanen from 7 feet before he fired a three-point ball to victory.
While Lillard’s last two shots made headlines, he was becoming a supernova as a sniper over the second half.
After hitting 1 in 6 out of three in the first half, Lillard got hot and stayed warm. He was getting up from all over the floor and there was nothing the Bulls could do to stop him. This was credited as a 33-foot bomb.
This photo was officially marked as 26 feet, but it looks much deeper than that:
Even his non-three were unpleasant. Poor Marrkanen will have nightmares about Dame Time for months:
Dame has been living under the nickname “Logo Lillard” for a while. While Stephen Curry remains the most dangerous sniper in the game and arguably the biggest three-point threat in NBA history, Lillard really isn’t that far away.
Lillard told coach Terry Stotts that he was going to start shooting from midfield this season. Anyone who has seen him in the bubble knows that he is not beyond his reach.
I hope Lillard will continue to expand the limits of normal photo-taking. Few players are more fun to watch than Dame when he starts.
Lillard finished with 44 points and nine assists in 8 out of 17 bottom shots. The Blazers managed to win to stay in the Western Conference standings, while CJ McCollum is sidelined due to a leg injury.
The Bulls played hard and played well, but the team had a big problem on Saturday night: they didn’t have Damian Lillard. When Dame is like that, there is simply no way to stop him.