With his series-ending buzzer runners to knock out the Houston Rockets in the 2014 playoffs and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 playoffs, Damian Lillard has not only established himself as one of the most stubborn shotmakers in the league , but also a pretty high standard for what makes a great photo.
His Saturday night effort definitely qualified as he hit one of the wildest game winners you’ll ever see to lift the Portland Trail Blazers above the Chicago Bulls, 123-122. Let’s see how it happened.
With just over 11 seconds to go, Bulls point guard Coby White threw down two free throws to set up the Bulls with five and seemingly seal the game. Only Lillard came out of the timeout and immediately hit a 3 from nearly 40 feet to make it a two-point game.
On the ensuing inbound, the Blazers held Zach LaVine in the corner and were able to force a jump ball before he could call a timeout. The Blazers then won the jump ball, and after a brief fight for the ball, Lillard got away with it and hit a fadeaway for the win.
Unreal. This look from Garrett Temple tells you everything you need to know about how the Bulls felt afterward.
Lillard finished with 44 points, five rebounds and nine assists in the win. This was his third buzzer beater, the most in franchise history according to ESPN Stats and Info. It is also his 35th game with a minimum of 40 points. No other player in Blazers history has even half of it.
This win ended a two-game mini-game for the Blazers, breaking their record to 10-8 this season. It was a tough business in Portland with CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins all with long term injuries, but so far they’ve been hanging out there. As it stands, they are only half a game behind fourth in this odd season, and Lillard showed once again that they always have a chance as long as he is around.