Damian Lillard had nothing but praise for Anfernee Simons after the Portland Trail Blazers youngster exploded in the third quarter of their contest against the Denver Nuggets.

Simons only had seven points in the first half, but an incredibly hot shooting streak saw him drop 22 points in the penultimate period alone. He made six out of his six 3-point attempts during the quarter, powering the Blazers to a 44-25 run that eventually allowed them to win 135-110.

The Nuggets were simply unable to stop Simons, who drew Stephen Curry comparisons from all corners of NBA Twitter with his epic shooting display. After the game, even Lillard couldn't stop singing praises for his protégé.

“Explosive. And fun. I was looking around at the crowd like, ‘Man, this is crazy. He's blowing the roof off the place.' … It was special to watch,” Lillard said of Simons, per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.

Anfernee Simons finished with 29 points on top of three rebounds and five assists. He went 11-of-17 from the field, including 7-of-12 from the 3-point line. As for Damian Lillard, he led the way for Portland with 31 points as they ripped Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets apart.

Simons continues to grow right before the eyes of the Portland faithful, and if he can keep up and improve his current performance, the Blazers will become even bigger threats with their backcourt duo of Lillard and Simons.

There is definitely a lot to be happy about the Blazers this time around. Aside from being the only unbeaten team with a 4-0 record, they are looking like legitimate title contenders.