Damian Lillard is already one of the most decorated players in Portland Trail Blazers history. His ability to raise his game in key moments has gained virality throughout social media for hitting game winners.
This was the beginning of Dame Time, back in Lillard’s first season and back when New Orleans were still the Hornets. As seen in the broadcast blurb, the young guard was no stranger to hitting clutch shots but this off-balanced, off-the-bounce three was the rookie’s first career game winner. The most impressive part was that before hitting that triple, Lillard had struggled to score in the game, having gone 4-13 from the field before sinking the dagger.
Ever since then, Dame’s affinity for putting teams down in the final moments only grew and grew. That clutch gene never faltered in the playoffs either.
Damian Lillard is one of the best playoff performers of all time
Heading into the postseason, Lillard is the 17th all-time leader in playoff points per game, according to Land of Basketball. That puts him at just below Russell Westbrook and ahead of legends such as Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and Shaquille O’Neal.
Dame is sure to climb the rankings in this playoffs too. He currently averages 24.78 points per playoff game and while that is nothing to scoff at, it’d be surprising if he doesn’t surpass that total each night against the Denver Nuggets. The rookie came in ready to wreck the league and has only gotten better since first suiting up for the Portland Trail Blazers.
As we excitedly await the first-round to begin and anticipate some more historic moments to add to Dame’s already lengthy clutch highlights reel, let’s take a look at some of his top playoff moments so far.