The Portland Trail Blazers are battling to stay in the hunt for a spot in the Play-In Tournament down the stretch of the season, which makes their 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets all the more important. While the win itself was big, everyone was talking about Damian Lillard, who poured in an absurd 71 points on the night to lead the Blazers to victory.
Lillard was on fire from the get go against Houston, as he scored 41 points in the first half alone, before getting 30 in the second. He also knocked down 13 threes along the way, and when the final buzzer sounded, Lillard had tied Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the most points scored in a game this season. After the game ended, Lillard provided an epic tribute to Wilt Chamberlain by posing with the number 71 written on a piece of paper in the same way Chamberlain did after he scored 100 points in a game.
Chamberlain holds the record for most points scored in a single game when he scored 100 back in 1962, and the photo of him holding a piece of paper with the number 100 on it after the game has gone down in history as one of the most legendary sports photographs of all time. When players score a boatload of points in a game, chances are they will recreate the photo in the way that Lillard has done here.
While Chamberlain's 100-point record may ultimately never be broken, Lillard did his best to at least give himself a shot to get it last night against the Rockets, which not many players can say they have done. With Lillard and Mitchell both scoring 71 points in a game this season, it will be interesting to see if anyone can surpass that total throughout the remainder of the season.
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