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Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard, an all-time great shooting season

By Stevie Cozens

PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 07: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on before the game against the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center on March 07, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 07: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on before the game against the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center on March 07, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /
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Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has had one of the greatest three-point shooting seasons of all-time. How has he managed to do this?

Damian Lillard has had the best regular season of his career, putting this Portland Trail Blazers team on his back in 2019/20. Though they haven’t made the playoffs yet, Dame’s spectacular shooting will go down in the record books.

Only three players in NBA history have averaged four made three-pointers a game. Stephen Curry, James Harden, and now Dame. Even more impressive, is that Dame is shooting 39.8 percent on these threes.

This puts him behind only Curry when looking at the greatest shooting seasons of all-time.

Let’s break down the year that Dame has had in 2019/20

62 games played

29.1 points – career high

4.4 rebounds

8.8 assists – career high

51.5 percent from two – career high

10.0 attempts a game from two

39.8 percent from three – career high

10.0 attempts a game from three – career high

7.6 free throws a game – career high

88.6 percent from the line

Six career highs. And these career highs, especially when looking at the made three-pointers, put Dame firmly in the top 10 three-point shooting seasons of all-time. Also, with his 39.8 percent from three, he has four more games to achieve the elite mark of 40 percent in a season for the first time.

Though Dame is already an all-time great shooter, the mark of 40 percent is a special one for shooters.

Also, when Lillard hit eleven threes in the recent win over the Denver Nuggets, he tied his own franchise record that he set against the Golden State Warriors this season. While also setting a new season franchise record for the Trail Blazers of 247 three-pointers. This eclipsed the mark that he set last season of 237.

Dame is such a team guy that the personal accomplishments don’t mean a lot to him. But we still need to acknowledge the greatness that we are witnessing. In the last few years, we have seen Dame consistently put himself in the conversation as one of the league’s five to ten best players.

With the way he is playing in the bubble, he may even be in the conversation to be the best. He has the chance to finish the regular season strong and firmly put his personal season in the record books as one of the greatest volume shooting seasons ever.

Next. Richard Jefferson: Blazers-Lakers would be “most anticipated first-round matchup in years”. dark