Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard put a dazzling performance against the Sacramento Kings last Thursday. He finished the game with a whopping 44 points and seven assists while making half of all his field goal attempts and shooting with a 53.3% clip from downtown.
This performance was so impressive that he is moving up the leaderboard in a category that includes greats, such as Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady.
Damian Lillard scored 44 points and committed no turnovers in the win vs the Kings.
That's his 5th career 40-point game with 0 turnovers, tied for 3rd-most since individual turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78. pic.twitter.com/qCV5bpXCZB
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 5, 2021
With Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis missing significant time with an injury and Lillard's strong level of play, there is room for Lillard tie or even exceed Davis in the leaderboard.
Usually, high-volume, high-usage guards like him get a pass when they turn the ball over a couple of times in a game. This is what makes Lillard's inclusion even more impressive. In a game the Blazers won by just four points, who knows what the final score would have been had he coughed up the ball a few times? This game was the perfect ending for Lillard's first half of the season, as he makes another All-Star appearance. He is being mentioned in MVP talks in an incredibly competitive race this year.
Portland is in the fifth spot in the Western Conference with a 21-14 record, in large part to Lillard's heavy lifting. His backcourt partner C.J. McCollum and center Jusuf Nurkić have been out for most of the season with serious injuries. Hopefully, they can return sooner rather than later and the All-Star break could not have come at a better time.
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