The 2024 NBA All-Star Game may have brought together the best players the league has to offer onto the same hardwood, but the game devolved into more of a showcase of their limitless three-point range rather than being a semi-competitive contest that the players took seriously. Even then, the players' display of their incredible marksmanship from multiple feet behind the three-point line was phenomenal, with Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey being in awe of how Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard performed en route to winning MVP honors for the game.
Following the Eastern Conference's 211-186 rout of the Western Conference All-Stars, the nascent 76ers star, who made his first All-Star game, dropped some lofty praise for Lillard after the Bucks star's triumphant All-Star Weekend where he didn't just win MVP honors on Sunday night, he also defended his Three-Point Contest crown.
“It's really crazy because he just does it shooting like it's a normal pull-up and he just trots back, no celebration, nothing. That's just a normal shot for him. He's extremely hard to defend,” Maxey said in his post-All-Star Game interview, via Tomer Azarly, Los Angeles Clippers beat reporter for ClutchPoints.
"It's really crazy because he just does it shooting like it's a normal pull-up and he just trots back, no celebration, nothing. That's just a normal shot for him. He's extremely hard to defend. Steph's the same way, Tyrese made some deep shots as well."
Tyrese Maxey on Damian… pic.twitter.com/OvOIC22E2B
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 19, 2024
Indeed, Damian Lillard has made a living out of being one of the best marksmen from way downtown. The Bucks star has long incorporated practicing those deep bombs into his usual regimen, and now, it's second nature for him to shoot those deep threes even in competitive settings. In an All-Star Game where everyone put in the least effort on defense imaginable, Lillard had even greater carte blanche to feast on threes that have become easier for him over the years.
It's a testament to Lillard's greatness that 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, who is a great player in his own right, was fawning over him. It's an even bigger testament to the Bucks star's epic All-Star Weekend that he was the one who stood out the most even with Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter of all time, doing his fair share of impressing in Indianapolis.
This could end up being a catalyst for a huge finish to the regular season for Damian Lillard; that may be bad news for the 76ers and other contending teams in the Eastern Conference, especially amid the Bucks' uneven stretch as of late.
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