Damian Lillard put the perfect cap on the greatest playoff performance in Portland Trail Blazers franchise history.
The Blazers’ star guard hit a 37-foot, game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer Tuesday night to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first-round NBA playoff series.
Fittingly, the (very, very) deep ball gave Lillard an even 50 points for the game. The All-Star played nearly the entire game, making 17 of the 33 shots he took, going 10-for-18 from 3-point land while making six of eight free throws for good measure. Lillard also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out six assists to put his finishing touches on a hardly contested, bitter series.
“The game, the series was over and that was it,” Lillard told reporters after the game, per ESPN.com. “And I was just waving goodbye to them. I think after Game 3, Dennis Schroder was out there pointing to his wrist, they was out there doing all these celebrations and doing all these stuff. We kept our composure and after one win that’s what they decided to do. And we was just like, ‘OK, what we want to do is win four games.’ And then when we win those four games there’s not going to be nothing to talk about. So that’s what that was.
“There’s been a lot of back and forth, a lot of talk and all this stuff, and that was the last word. That was having the last word.”
The Blazers now wait for the winner of the series between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs. Denver currently leads 3-2 with Game 6 set for Thursday night in San Antonio.
