Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard earned his third 50-point game against the Utah Jazz, the most by any player in NBA history, according to a Wednesday tweet by ESPN Stats and Info.
Damian Lillard scored 60 points against the Jazz in 39 minutes played of the 134-124 Blazers win, sinking 21 of his 29 field goal attempts and nine of his ten free throws. He scored 20-straight points in the last seven minutes of the third quarter, pushing the Blazers to a 102-91 lead by the end of the third. The 32-year-old guard became the only player to have three games with at least 60 points, five rebounds and five assists as he earned eight rebounds and seven assists on Wednesday.
Only two other players have reached 60 points with fewer shot attempts, according to ESPN staff writer Kevin Pelton. Karl Malone scored 61 points on 26 field goal attempts in a 144-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in 1990, while then-Houston Rockets guard James Harden scored 60 points on 24 shot attempts in a 158-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks in 2019. Both Malone and Harden shot 23 free throws when they earned their historic scoring performances.
“That was incredible, man,” said Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “You don't get to see that very often, to be that efficient. For a guy to score 60 points and only 10 free throws and make nine of them, you're thinking either this dude has an absurd amount of 3s. It was just incredible how efficient he was.”
Kobe Bryant was the only other player with multiple 50-point games against the Jazz. He scored 52 points in a 30-point win over Utah in 2006 and 60 in the final game of his NBA career.
In 37 games played against the Jazz, Damian Lillard has scored 27.5 points, grabbed 4.6 rebounds and dished 6.1 assists in 36.5 minutes played per game, according to Basketball Reference.
The Blazers will tip off against the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. PST on Saturday in the Moda Center. The game can be streamed on Root Sports Plus.
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