While most of the country was watching the Suns smoke the Lakers on Thursday night, Damian Lillard put on a shooting show for the ages. OK, so most of the country was fast asleep—especially by the time Portland and Denver's Game 5 got to double OT. But you get the point, it was Dame Time. And it stayed Dame Time until very late.
It didn't matter what the Nuggets threw at the All-Star guard, the guy couldn't be stopped. And he couldn't miss. Even as he took more and more absurdly difficult shots from deep. Here's how he tied the game in regulation:
Here's how he tied the game in the first overtime:
Here's another random ridiculous three in between:
Lillard wound up with 55 points and set an NBA Playoffs record with 12 three-pointers. A DOZEN triples! He also became the first player to have 50 points, 10 assists, and 10 threes in any NBA game while shooting 17 of 24 from the field, including 12 of 17 from deep. Unreal.
Dame scored his team's final 17 points, but it still wasn't enough as the Nuggets prevailed 147-140 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. The magic run stopped with the score tied at 140 with three minutes left in double OT as Lillard rimmed out what would have been yet another difficult shot. That prompted Denver guard Austin Rivers to give arguably the best reaction of the year in sports:
LOL that's perfect. Rivers later commented on an Instagram post about Lillard's historic night.
After watching that performance, you don't need to convince us. Dame Time starts again Thursday at 8 ET so even more people will be watching. Go get some rest, Austin. Not that it matters.
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