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Eric WoodyardESPN
Saturday night, five points behind the Chicago Bulls with 8.9 seconds left, the Portland Trail Blazers entered what NBA fans have known simply as “Dame Time.”
Damian Lillard hit a 37-point 3-point throw with less than 10 seconds left to put the Blazers on two points. The Blazers then tied Bulls star Zach LaVine and won the jump ball, which eventually ended up in Lillard’s hands.
Lillard proceeded to punch a step back 3 over Lauri Markkanen’s long arms to beat Chicago by 123-122.
“This is special because I think in those situations where we go down five, when 11 seconds are left, are the times when the winning team thinks they have the game almost closed,” said Lillard, who scored 14 points in the fourth. “And the opposing team is discouraged.”
No Lillard.
Blazers coach Terry Stotts struggled with words to describe Lillard’s clutch gene after the win.
“It’s innate. It’s given by God,” Stotts said. “He was born with it and you can’t teach it.”
Lillard finished with a maximum of 44 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds and reached his third winning run, including the playoffs. This is the highest in Trail Blazers history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
For Lillard, it was also his 35th game of 40 career points, more than double that of any other player in franchise history. Clyde Drexler is next with over 17.
Lillard’s teammates, Enes Kanter and Gary Trent Jr., weren’t surprised by their heroic endings to the game. Inside the fanless United Center in Chicago, Kanter was one of the first teammates to greet him with a hug. Kanter says he’s “used to this trait,” but also acknowledges that it’s “amazing what he can do.”
So does Trent.
“The first time I was surprised was when I came here as a rookie, seeing it from day one, if I finished the practice and finished the games,” Trent added. “But now, at this point, that’s what he does. No one is surprised in any way. He makes important shots. He’s done it time and time again, so right now, he knew he’d come in when he shot him.”
Chicago dragged until 19 the night before, backing away to turn it into a tight game in the second half. Markkanen finished with a maximum of 31 points with six rebounds and LaVine contributed 26 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Portland played without Jusuf Nurkic (fractured right wrist), CJ McCollum (middle foot sprain), Derrick Jones Jr. (left foot sprain) and Zach Collins (left ankle stress fracture).
According to Elias Sports Bureau data, this is the first time a jump ball and a game-winning buzzer in the same possession have occurred in the last 10 seconds since April 30, 2006. The Los Angeles Lakers go win a jump ball against Suns and Kobe Bryant won the winning game.
After nailing the shot on Saturday, Lillard credited his relatives for having planted those roots inside him to overcome adversity at critical times.
“It started in my own family. This is crazy and I think that’s why I always refer to my upbringing and the type of family I come from just because of the challenge and competitiveness that my own family has.” said Lillard. “It can be something like a spelling bee. It can be anything. We compete to the death and it doesn’t matter. You have a certain standard in my family where it’s like they were built for in the low moments, it will be built to properly manage the high moments.
“Your skin will be hard,” he added. “You’ll be ready to go up and you’ll be ready to deal with failure. But, you’ll learn to keep moving forward no matter what the outcome.”