OKLAHOMA CITY – With 5 minutes and 28 seconds remaining, Damian Lillard hit two strong dribbles with his left hand, placing the man on his hip and lining up defender Al Horford.
It was a one-point game, Oklahoma City Thunder leading, and as Lillard does, he pushed the eject button to go up and shoot Horford in the face, the type of shot on which the “Dame Time” mythology was built.
The problem was that, up to that point, he was 1 out of 9 out of 3 points away. It was not a typical Lillard game, with a flurry of logo photos and stunning finishes. He was short, he was off the left, he was wrong. And this one about Horford – this one failed badly soon and he left.
Lillard propelled the battered Blazers last month behind those moments, carrying the burden of clutch time on his shoulders, while trying to bring in young talent like Anfernee Simons, Gary Trent Jr. and Nassir Little. But the big points, the right shots, belong to Lillard.
But with the icy air in Oklahoma so cold that the state was dealing with an energy emergency, with basically all the arena lights off except the ones that illuminate the floor, Lillard was freezing. And not in a good way.
Thunder, as it has often done this season, fought with its young players, staying in the game long enough for energy and athleticism to wear down their opponents. Hamidou Diallo was jumping on the floor; Lu Dort was washing the snow to the brim. A 20-point lead from Blazer turned into a five-point handicap with four minutes to go. It was getting to a point now or never for Dame Time.
“There is concern,” admitted Lillard. He said he looked at the scoreboard when the Blazers’ lead fell to 93-84, hoping his team could hit two fast 3s, calm the Thunder race and then he would take over the controls for an easy landing.
“But I was like, ‘man, this would be a difficult loss for us. We played so well. ‘ But as soon as I got back on the court, I was like … “he said, pausing for a moment.
“I never thought there was a game that I couldn’t control,” he said. “When I’m there, I feel how much the defense is trying to stop me. When I see how alert and active they are trying to stop me, I know that they are concerned. How well or how badly I am throwing the ball. And for me, it is even more a mental thing for me that, even though they know I’m not hot, they are still worried and I want to show them why they should be worried. And why they should still be on edge. “
0:52
Enes Kanter comments on Damian Lillard’s incredible move, saying he has never seen anything like it before.
His first final game 3 came at the 4:11 mark, with Dort flying over him in a fake bomb. Lillard dribbled and drained calmly. The Thunder lead fell to two and ended a 23-4 streak with which OKC had opened the fourth period. With Thunder now on high alert, he prepared Trent for a corner 3 on the next trip and the Blazers had the lead back.
At the next inauguration, Lillard worked to free Dort from him and force an exchange. He leaned back in a quick throw at Isaiah Roby and hit the bottom of the net. A few possessions later, Lillard kept Dort isolated. An obstinate defender who worked tirelessly to pursue Lillard, Dort remained with each stroke, each stroke, each stroke. With the clock ticking, Lillard stepped back and took a big step back to swing in a 3 with a little more tilt and a little extra bow because of the stellar defense. It didn’t matter – it was Dame Time. Two trips later, Lillard hit another one for the official dagger to give the Blazers their fifth consecutive victory, 115-104 over OKC.
Lillard started game 1 out of 10 with a distance of 3 points. He finished 4 of 4. Only a standard 31-point game with seven rebounds and 10 assists – and a win.
“He’s like a cheat code – I’ve never seen anything like it before,” said Enes Kanter. “And I played with some excellent players. But I have never seen anything like it. It is wild.”
Dame Time’s mindset is well narrated, with Lillard answering questions about her since her first famous clutch stroke fell – in 2014 to eliminate the Houston Rockets. But he revealed on Tuesday that part of unlocking the mindset to embrace big moments is in his own personal mind game with himself.
“I don’t know why,” he said, “I just do it.”
02:24
Stephen A. Smith apologizes for ignoring Damian Lillard’s exceptional performances this season.
The attention of defenders, the fear he hears in the voices of technical assistants pleading with players to stay on top of him, can serve as an injection of confidence for Lillard even when the kick is not falling.
“It’s encouraging in those moments,” said Lillard. “Sometimes I fall short. Sometimes they go well enough or the shots don’t come in, but at those times, I’m telling myself that when they leave the court, maybe they’ll come back and say, ‘that’s why we wanted it you did it, so it wouldn’t happen to us. ‘I want to do this for the opposing team. “
Lillard said he doesn’t remember exactly when he started playing with himself – maybe in his second season, he guessed – and he had no explanation of how he went to that place mentally to activate it.
“It’s internal,” he said. “You just demand it. You just demand something extra from yourself. There is nothing that comes from [Blazers head] trainer [Terry] Stotts, there is nothing that comes from [NBA development coach] Phil Beckner, nothing like that. It’s just inside, I’m like, ‘I have to find a way.’ This is an opportunity to grow and grow. “
At the end of the third quarter, Lillard collided with Dort and spent a long time trying to get rid of him. The Blazers missed it so he could check it out on the bench, and even after leaving everything clean to return, Lillard watched as he intermittently rubbed and flexed his knee. It was a brief moment of terror for the Blazers, who have already faced a wave of wear and tear. This wear and tear has given some of his young players opportunities to develop, which can benefit the team in the long run, but as the last postseason showed, without Lillard, there is no Dame Time, which means there are no Blazers.
That’s why he accepts and understands his responsibility, especially without the injury on the side of the court closest to CJ McCollum. And even on a night when it wasn’t happening, Lillard’s inner voice kept talking to him, telling him that there was an opportunity for a moment.
“I have said this to myself and I have failed several times. But it is a real thing,” he said. “I’m always talking to myself anyway. You have to find a way. You have to go. You have been shooting badly throughout the game, but this is a new start. I’m always talking to myself anyway.”
Ice cream. On the right track.