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Eric WoodyardESPN
Five points below the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night with 8.9 seconds to go, the Portland Trail Blazers entered what NBA fans know as “Dame Time.”
Damian Lillard hit a three-point shot from 11 yards with less than 10 seconds to go to place the Blazers within two points. The Blazers then tied Bulls star Zach LaVine and won the jump ball – which eventually ended up in the hands of Lillard.
Lillard went on to drill a buzz-throbbing step-back 3 over Lauri Markkanen’s long arms to beat Chicago 123-122.
“This one is special because in these situations where we are five behind, I think, with 11 seconds to go, those are the times when the winning team thinks they have nearly completed the game,” said Lillard, who scored. 14 points in the fourth. “And the other team is discouraged.”
Lillard doesn’t.
Blazers coach Terry Stotts struggled with words to describe Lillard’s clutch gene after the win.
‘It is innate. It’s God-given, ”said Stotts. “He was born with it and you can’t learn it.”
Lillard finished with a game-high of 44 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds, hitting his third game-winning buzzer beater in his career, including the playoffs. That’s the most in Trail Blazers history, according to research from ESPN Stats & Information.
For Lillard, it was also his 35th game of his career with 40 points, more than double any other player in the history of the franchise. Clyde Drexler has the next most with 17.
Lillard’s teammates Enes Kanter and Gary Trent Jr. were not surprised by his late game heroism. At the fanless United Center in Chicago, Kanter was one of the first of his teammates to greet him with a hug. Kanter says he is “used to that shot,” but also acknowledges that it is “incredible what he can do.”
Trent too.
“The first time I was shocked when I initially arrived here as a rookie, considering it from Day 1, was finishing practice, ending games,” Trent added. “But now, at this point, it’s what he’s doing. Nobody’s surprised in a way. He’s taking great pictures. He’s done this over and over, so at this point I knew it was going in when he recorded it. . “
Chicago was a whopping 19 behind the night before and clawed back to make it a close game in the second half. Markkanen finished with a team-high of 31 points with six rebounds, and LaVine contributed 26 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Portland played without Jusuf Nurkic (right wrist fracture), CJ McCollum (metatarsal sprain), Derrick Jones Jr. (left foot sprain) and Zach Collins (left ankle strain fracture).
According to data from the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time a jump ball and a winning buzzer-beater on the same possession have occurred in the last 10 seconds since April 30, 2006. The Los Angeles Lakers won a jump ball against the Suns and Kobe Bryant hit the winning buzzer beater.
After taking the shot on Saturday, Lillard gave credit to his relatives for planting those roots in him to endure adversity at critical moments.
“It started in my own family. That’s the crazy thing and I think that’s why I always refer to my upbringing and the kind of family I come from just because of the challenge and how competitive it is in my own family,” said Lillard . “It could be like a spelling bee. It could be anything. We’re competing life and death and it doesn’t matter. You’re held to a certain standard in my family, where it’s like you’re going to be built for the low moments, you are built to handle the high moments well.
“Your skin will harden,” he added. You will be willing to rise and you will be willing to deal with failure. But you learn to keep moving forward, regardless of the outcome. ‘