Lillard Continues To Amaze From Long Range
May 9, 2019, 11:05 PM
(Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
(Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, Oreg. – Paul George called Damian Lillard’s shot over him “a bad shot,” but the truth is that a shot from 30-plus feet away from the basket is well within the Portland Trail Blazers star’s range.
After knocking down a pair of 3-pointers from well behind the 3-point in the third quarter of the Trail Blazers’ 119-108 Game 6 win over the Denver Nuggets, the ESPN broadcast flashed a graphic with an unbelievable statistic.
According to ESPN’s research, Lillard is shooting at 9-for-13 clip from 30-plus feet during this season’s playoffs. The rest of the league, including Golden State’s Steph Curry, is shooting at an 8-for-84 pace from that distance.
Per ESPN, Damian Lillard 9-13 from 30 feet and beyond. Rest of league is 8-84. #RipCity @KGWSports
— Orlando Sanchez (@orlandokgw) May 10, 2019
While he made two shots from way downtown in Game 6 against Denver, Lillard’s most exciting shot from long range came in the first round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After draining a shot from more than 30 feet away at the buzzer to eliminate the Thunder, Lillard waved to the Oklahoma City bench as his teammates dog-plied him.
In his postgame interview, George, who was guarding Lillard on that last sequence, had the audacity to call it a poorly judged shot decision by Lillard, implying that he got lucky.
Upon hearing that on Twitter, Lillard responded by simply tweeting “Lol.”
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 24, 2019
With his performance against the Nuggets on Thursday, Lillard is clearly still laughing at those who doubt he can knock it down from an extreme distance.
He scored a game-high 32 points with six made triples to force a Game 7 against Denver.
