Landon Buford
Damian Lillard dropped 51 points on Sunday to help the Portland Trailblazers to beat the Philadephia 76ers 124-121 in a game they needed to stay in striking distance of the eighth seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.
Lillard bounced back from missing two crucial free-throws that would have put them on the head of the Clippers the night before. After the game, there were jabs back and forth been Damian Lillard, Paul George, and Patrick Beverley. It didn’t stop there though Lillard’s sister and La’Nae Lillard, and Paul George’s girlfriend took shots at each other.
“I said earlier I was going to let that whole Paul George s–t go, and Patrick Beverly cause everybody know how my mouth is, how my mouth can get,” La’Nae said, via footage from NBA Central Daily. “Cause you can’t talk, you got a h-e stripper pregnant.”
Rajic responded to La’Nae’s comments on her Instagram story: “Somebody come get this cow @lanaelillard.”
With Lillard pouring in 51 points, grabbing three rebounds, and dishing out seven assist in 40 minutes on Sunday. That bring up the question is Lillard the best point guard in the league?
Former Clippers and Blazers guard Craig Smith was a recent guest on The NR Hour Sports Podcast Show with Nithin Ramachandra and was asked if Lillard was the best point guard in the game?
“I would think so! Dame is one of my favorite players and especially with this 51. He has kind of been un-guardable, especially watching these few games. And I mean the Clippers kind of made him mad, so now, he is a little bit angry,” said Smith. “So, now you are going to get an angry Dame coming into the playoffs. Sometimes that doesn’t sit well.
Even though Patrick Beverley was making fun of Lillard, he admitted that he couldn’t guard the Blazers floor general on The JJ Redick Podcast with Tommy Alter.
“I say Dame. I give it to him. Dame is one of the reasons why I went into the weight room. I told my guys, ‘Hey, I gotta get faster laterally. I don’t feel like I’m fast. I can’t keep up with the speed right now. I don’t know if I need to lose weight. I don’t know if I need to get stronger. I don’t know if I need to hire a new f****** team. But I need to get f******* faster…
“He’s in a system where they allow him to be exactly who he is in order for them to win at a high level. Those half-court shots are like, for me that’s layups and corner shots, half-court shots for him, though. The dynamic is very different when you’re going out there preparing for a player like that. Way different.”
Former Blazers’ guard shared with me last summer, Lillard was the best player at his position.
“At his position, he is the number one guard in the league right now,” Wells told me.
“What I love about Dame, he does so much for the community, he raps, a family guy and loyal to the soil that he grew up in.”
<必利勁 !– /wp:paragraph –>He continued, “He puts the work in on the court and isn’t all about talking with him.”
“He goes out there and performs. That is what I respect about him. With that being said, that puts him above all guards in my opinion. What he did in that First Round [in the NBA Playoffs] against Paul George; who I know is a great defender and Russell Westbrook, who is a competitor; but he was able to put on a show like no other. That put him on the top of my list after that series.”
The Blazers are scheduled to face the Maverick next on Tuesday at 6:30 pm EST on TNT.
