Blazers Guard Damian Lillard Wins MVP Award For Seeding Games Inside NBA Bubble
Aug 15, 2020, 12:33 PM | Updated: 11:15 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former Weber State and current Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard won the MVP Award following the eight NBA seeding games to close out the league’s season inside the league’s bubble.
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He won the Kia NBA Player of the Seeding Games unanimously.
Lillard led the Blazers to a 6-2 record in Portland’s seeding games.
The former Weber State star helped the Trail Blazers win their final three games of the regular season to improve to 35-39 on the year and clinch a spot in the Western Conference’s play-in game.
The Kia NBA Player of the Seeding Games is, unanimously, @Dame_Lillard! pic.twitter.com/SflugiCh02
— NBA (@NBA) August 15, 2020
Lillard and the Blazers will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, August 15. The winner of the play-in matchup will become the eighth seed in the West postseason picture and face the No. 1 seed Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Portland vs. Memphis contest will take place at 12:30 p.m. (MDT) and will broadcast on ABC.
Dame. Ja.
Western Conference Play-In. #PhantomCam #WholeNewGameTap to Cheer at GAMETIME at 2:30 PM ET on ABC. #RipCity #GrindCity pic.twitter.com/BC7cQnA1v1
— NBA (@NBA) August 15, 2020
During the seeding games, Lillard averaged 37.6 points and scored 42 points or more in four of the eight contests.
In the Blazers’ three wins to close out the seeding games, Lillard scored 51, 61, and 42 points respectively.
He’s the only player in NBA history to average 50 points and nine assists per contest over a three-game stretch, according to ESPN.
154 points in three games, all wins ⌚️
Dame put the Blazers on his back to clinch the No. 8 seed. pic.twitter.com/XZdFWKhz4s
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 14, 2020
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His 61-point performance tied a Blazers franchise record previously set by Lillard himself. After the win, Adidas, which sponsors Lillard, lowered the price of his signature “Dame 6” shoes to $61.
Lillard was also honored as a member of the first-team for the league’s All-Bubble teams.
This season, the NBA All-Star is recording 30.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 8.0 assists a game.
🅱🆄🅱🅱🅻🅴 🅼🆅🅿 https://t.co/iaBPSF9kba pic.twitter.com/jSUPjdBUQz
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) August 15, 2020
About Damian Lillard
After starring for the Weber State Wildcats in Ogden from 2009-12, Lillard was selected by the Blazers with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. He won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award after his debut season.
The former Weber State guard has played his entire NBA career with Portland.
LOGO LILLARD!
Some of @Dame_Lillard's deepest threes 🎯 pic.twitter.com/j7x3xjwJvb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 14, 2020
Since he was drafted into the NBA, the Lillard has been named an All-Star five times. He was a member of the All-NBA First Team in 2018.
