Damian Lillard Joins The Only Record Holder James Harden After Win Against The Nuggets

The Portland Trail Blazers took another big step in their quest for the playoffs. After a crucial win against the Rockets a couple of days back, the Blazers have taken down the Denver Nuggets tonight. They were led by Damian Lillard, who had a mammoth game, 45 points, 12 assists, and 11 threes. During this performance, he tied his career-high of three-pointers as well.

With this stat line, Lillard joined James Harden as the only other play in NBA history to record a game with 10+ assists and 10+ threes. Only Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have more games with 10 three-pointers than him.

Lillard is one of the best shooters in the league and also one of the best playmakers. Tonight, he had the best of both worlds. With CJ McCollum having an off night, Lillard was locked in from the start. Dropping 14 in the first quarter, he had no intention of stopping.

Damian Lillard rescues Portland yet again?

Along with his points and assist, Lillard also had four rebounds and three steals. With the Nuggets still missing their starting point guard Jamal Murray, the backup Monte Morris was given a tough time by Lillard.

The amount of times Lillard has single-handedly taken the Blazers to a victory is too high. Despite him dropping a shooting clinic tonight, one cannot go without acknowledging Gary Trent Jr’s performance. With the others on a shooting slump, Trent went berserk scoring 10/15 from the field, which included seven threes. In the bubble, he is averaging 20.3 points per game off the bench, going 62.9% from three.

Considering their tough schedule, the Blazers were given only an outside chance to make the playoffs. That route was through the play-in tournament, after finishing ninth. But with their excellent performances, combined with the bad results of the Grizzlies, they have a good chance of getting the eighth seed now.

Although it won’t make any difference as they still have to go through the play-in tournament, Lillard and co are proving that giving them a chance to qualify for the playoffs was dangerous for the other teams. The tough run of games continues for them now, as they face the Clippers on Saturday, and have a game against the 76ers immediately on Sunday.

Tough times call for tough people and Lillard is certainly not afraid of a challenge.

Sources:

Nuggets vs Blazers

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