Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard scores two 3s in 8.9 seconds to bury the Chicago Bulls late

Down five points to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night with 8.9 seconds left, the Portland Trail Blazers have entered what NBA fans have learned to call simply “Dame Time.”

Damian Lillard pulled off a 37-foot 3-point shot with less than 10 seconds to go to put the Blazers within two points. The Blazers then tied up Bulls star Zach LaVine and won the ball – which ultimately ended up in Lillard’s hands.

Lillard proceeded to drill a step back 3 beating the buzzer on Lauri Markkanen’s long arms to beat Chicago 123-122.

“This one is special because in those situations where we’re down five, I think, with 11 seconds left, those are the times when the winning team thinks the game is pretty much over,” said Lillard, who scored. 14 points in the fourth. “And the opposing team is discouraged.”

Not Lillard.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts struggled with the words to describe Lillard’s clutch gene after the win.

“It’s innate. It’s given by God,” Stotts said. “He was born with it and you cannot teach it.”

Lillard finished with a record 44 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds and hit his third career buzzer-beater, including the playoffs. It’s the most in Trail Blazers history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

For Lillard, it was also his 35th career 40-point game, more than double any other player in franchise history. Clyde Drexler has the highest number with 17.

Lillard’s teammates Enes Kanter and Gary Trent Jr. weren’t surprised by his late-game exploits. Inside the fanless United Center in Chicago, Kanter was among the first of his teammates to greet him with a hug. Kanter says he’s “used to this shot”, but also acknowledges that “what he can do is amazing.”

Trent too.

“The first time I was shocked when I came here as a rookie, seeing it from day one, whether it was the end of practice, the end of games,” Trent added. “But now, at this point, that’s what he does. Nobody’s surprised in a way. He does some big hits. He did this time after many times, so at this point, I knew it was like that. was happening when he pulled it. “

Chicago was trailed by no less than 19 the night before, recovering to make it a close game in the second half. Markkanen finished with a team-high 31 points with six rebounds, and LaVine contributed 26 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Portland was playing without Jusuf Nurkic (right wrist fracture), CJ McCollum (midfoot sprain), Derrick Jones Jr. (left foot sprain) and Zach Collins (left ankle stress fracture).

According to data from Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time that a jump ball and a winning buzzer-beater have occurred on the same possession in the last 10 seconds since April 30, 2006. The Los Angeles Lakers won a jump ball against the Suns and Kobe Bryant hit the game-winning buzzer-batsman.

After tackling the blow on Saturday, Lillard credited those close to him for planting the roots of adversity in him at critical times.

“It started in my own family. It’s the crazy thing and I think that’s why I always refer to my upbringing and the kind of family I come from just because of the challenge and competitiveness in my own. family, ”Lillard said. “It can be something like a spelling bee. It can be anything. We compete to the death and it doesn’t matter. You’re held to a certain level in my family where it’s like if you’re going to be built for the low times, you’re going to be built to handle the high times properly.

“Your skin is going to be tough,” he added. “You will be ready to stand up and you will be ready to face failure. But, you learn to keep moving forward regardless of the outcome.