Dame Time assumed prime time on Sunday night.
After impressing Rip City for nine seasons with horns in the playoffs, striking individual markings and many clutch performances to count, Damian Lillard found another stage – one of the biggest in the NBA – to strip off another layer of his star power.
Lillard scored 32 points, including the decisive three-point game, to catapult Team LeBron to a convincing 170-150 victory over Team Durant in the NBA’s All-Star game at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. It was the highest number of points that a Portland Trail Blazers player scored at the annual exhibition, and Lillard delivered them stunningly, mixing buried alley-oop with three-point bombs on the half court while scoring his team’s 11 final points. .
Playing during a pandemic in a hectic and condensed one-day event that also included the 3-Point Contest, the Slam Dunk Contest and the Skills Challenge, Lillard somehow managed to grab a huge chunk of the spotlight.
“It looks kind of crazy,” said Lillard. “I couldn’t even dream of some of the things that happened in my career.”
Lillard, who lost a spot in the game because of a tiebreaker, left the bench to play 21 minutes on Sunday, hitting 11 of 20 shots, including 8 of 16 from three points. But it was how the points emerged that drew attention.
During a huddle before the game on the sideline, Lillard said, he and his teammates Stephen Curry and Chris Paul made a pact: they would all try to end a dunk in the alley and hit a half-court shot before the night was over. Lillard kept his share of the bargain in the first half, hitting Paul’s lob at 1:19 of the second half and hitting a deep bomb about a minute later.
It was just a provocation.
Lillard went on to score three points from almost half a court, including the winner of the game, asking a question if Logo Lillard will soon be changed to Halfcourt Lillard. He had threatened before the season to add half-court three to his arsenal, but he had not yet tried in a game. An exhibition competition against the best players in the game, it seems, was the right place to dust.
“I wanted to try it out on some live action,” said Lillard. “It looked decent, it looked good, like a normal jumper. I was able to shoot quite easily. “
Lillard, a notable long-range sniper who has extended his reach to the logo in recent years, said he was embarrassed to try a half-court of three during a game “out of respect” for his teammates. Why risk a defensive position with a casual low-percentage shot?
But it is something that Lillard practices regularly and he relies on its accuracy, even at such distances. Now that he has succeeded in an exhibition game, don’t be surprised to see him in a real game.
“I think I will,” he said. “If I can, I will definitely do that.”
At the very least, he won the approval of a former critic. Paul George, who Lillard famously beat with a 37-foot horn to close a series of playoffs in the first round in 2018, said he now regrets calling him a “bad shot” afterwards.
On Sunday, in a post-game interview with Zoom, George told reporters that Lillard (and Curry) have developed a “crazy” range and are making deep threes with such ease and precision that these shots are now “well within reach” .
“It’s a great picture,” said George, laughing. “Affirmative.”
But while Lillard’s deep bombs attracted a lot of noise on Sunday, it was his flood of scores at the end of the game that gave Team LeBron a victory. For the second consecutive season, the All-Star Game rules dictated that the game would only end when a team reached 170 points. Lillard pushed Team LeBron to the limit by scoring his 11 final points, completing a directional layup before striking three consecutive points to end the game.
The last one came – where else? – half court, while Lillard dribbled on the left side, took a step beyond the half court line and launched the clincher. As the play unfolded, Curry stood on the other side and prematurely waved goodbye to the 2,500 fans present, effectively calling Lillard the final shot.
After the dagger fell through the net, Lillard raised his arms and tapped his wrist, bringing Dame Time into prime time.
Perhaps the only thing that escaped Lillard on Sunday was the All-Star Game MVP trophy. That went to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who completed 16 perfect shots in 16 pitches and scored 35 points, the best in the game.
Curry added 28 points, thanks to eight three points, and he also fulfilled the playmaker pact to finish an alley and hit a half block three. Paul, who dazzled with 16 assists, made his dunk, but never had a chance to attempt a shot from midfield. It’s the only thing that didn’t work for Team LeBron.
“It was fun,” said Lillard. “It’s exciting to run around with a guy like (Curry). That’s what makes All-Star Weekend, All-Star Weekend. “
– Joe Freeman | [email protected] | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian / OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories