The Portland Trail Blazers, after such a strong start to the season, have fallen off the pace in recent weeks. However, Damian Lillard is not to blame for their downtick in form. Lillard has been on an offensive tear as of late (even scoring 60 against the Utah Jazz last week); and on Wednesday night, he once again showed that his ability to put the ball into the hoop from everywhere on the court is just on an entirely different level from almost everyone else in the league at the moment.

With 0.6 seconds left in the third quarter and the Blazers facing a six-point deficit against the Memphis Grizzlies, 90-84, Lillard received the ball on the inbounds and casually launched the ball from the opposite free-throw line. With Dame being the flamethrower that he has been in recent weeks, did anyone else expect another outcome but a swish?

However, time is the enemy of us all. It was certainly Damian Lillard's enemy on this possession, as he was not able to launch his marvelous heave from far beyond before the third quarter buzzer sounded.

In recent years, players have grown hesitant to launch such shots. This hesitance has come as a result of their hyperawareness of how adversely these types of shots affect their field-goal percentage which, in turn, affects the perception of their performances.

Deserved props go to Damian Lillard for not giving a damn, even though it did not count in the end. Perhaps the basketball gods could reward Dame in some other way – perhaps with a win.

And that was indeed the outcome for the Blazers. They beat the Grizzlies, 122-112, after a strong performance in the payoff period. Lillard, despite going up against the second-best defense in the league in terms of points allowed per 100 possessions, had himself yet another big game, dropping 42 points, eight rebounds, and 10 dimes to will his Blazers to victory.

With Jerami Grant out due to a possible concussion and Jusuf Nurkic still suffering through a lingering calf injury, this is such a huge statement win for the Blazers. Every win matters for them, given the congested state of affairs in the Western Conference standings.