The Portland Trail Blazers were in need of a big win at home as they push towards the playoffs. The final seed in the Western Conference – and a first-round matchup with the Golden State Warriors – will go to either the Blazers and Denver Nuggets. On Saturday night, Damian Lillard made sure the Blazers took a step towards clinching that spot.
Portland hosted the Utah Jazz, a team also in a battle of their own with the Los Angeles Clippers to determine who would have homecourt advantage in their series. Damian Lillard came out scorching hot scoring 26 points in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, he didn’t record one point. Then he really took over in the second half.
Damian Lillard finished with a career-high and Blazers franchise-high 59 points. On top of that, Dame also hit a career-high nine three-pointers in the super important Blazers win. Lillard also grabbed six rebounds, handed out five assists but did not have one turnover all night.
After the game, Lillard continued to surprise people when he made a selfless gesture. He gave the game ball to an opponent, Joe Johnson who became the newest member of the NBA’s 20,000 points club.
Lillard said he let the Jazz have the game ball tonight for Joe Johnson, who surpassed 20,000 points tonight.
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) April 9, 2017
