Damian Lillard Scored 71 Points
Yesterday, before covering the match between the Portland Trailblazers and the Houston Rockets, I was worried that the game would not be exciting because the Rockets weren't at their best. Moreover, the Rockets played without their young stars, Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr.. But what happened the other way around, it turned out that taking the train from Seattle to Portland for 3.5 hours didn't hurt at all.
It all paid off as Damian Lillard delivered an unforgettable performance and historic night by scoring 71 points to lead the Blazers to a 131-114 win over the Rockets. The Blazers handed the Rockets their ninth loss in their last 10 games.
"Being able to make (71 points) in front of the home crowd, that's very special for me. This is your number one supporter, so you want to experience moments like this with them," explained Lillard after the match. This is new history for the Blazers because previously there had never been a Blazers player who could score this many points.
Lillard played aggressively from the start where he immediately scored 41 points in the first half. The Rockets' defense found no answer to contain Lillard. Lillard's achievement was also helped by the Rockets who had caught up with the Blazers from 21 points behind so that the Blazers coach, Chauncey Billups had no choice but to give Lillard minutes.
In this game, Lillard also scored 13 trippoints which is the second most in NBA history, he only lost to Klay Thompson who holds the record with 14 trippoints in one game.
The atmosphere at the Moda Center is amazing especially when Lillard is on the ball. All the fans are always anticipating Lillard to shoot and there is always a limp sound when Lillard passes the ball. Lillard last floated for his 71st point and Billups pulled it off to give Lillard a standing ovation at Moda Center.
"I have never seen a player who can score this many points but efficiently. Dame (Lillard's nickname) continues to show us his class and as a leader of this team. Luckily I can be part of this history," commented Billups about Lillard's performance after the game .
The shocking moment for Lillard was that he had to take a drug test after the game even though he had just taken a urine test yesterday. "I was very surprised when I was called for a drug test by injecting it. I was very afraid of needles even though I had lots of tattoos. I was quite surprised when I was called."
As well as Lillard, Jerami Grant also appeared solid with 13 points and Nassir Little added 11 points to complete the Blazers' 29th win of the season.
The Blazers are currently in 11th place in the Western Conference standings and in their next game they will face the Golden State Warriors.
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