In a piece for The Players' Tribune, Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum talks about his emotions watching All-Star point guard Damian Lillard hit a long game-winner over Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 playoffs.
Lillard scored 50 points in Game 5 against the Thunder and hit the series-clinching shot at the buzzer over George:
I still can’t believe Dame hit that shot.
I’ve had a whole off-season to reflect on last year’s playoffs, and I keep coming back to that.
I mean, of course I believe it. Dame’s a killer. Hitting shots like that — at the buzzer, from almost half-court, to close out a series … that’s what he does. He’s cold-blooded.
And the fact that he did it at home, at the Moda Center, in front of the best basketball fans in the world?
Legendary.




Lillard finished Game 5 shooting 17-of-33 from the field and 10-of-18 from beyond the arc. The Blazers star waved goodbye to the Thunder after hitting that epic 3-pointer and was mobbed by his teammates on the floor.
Lillard was a man possessed in that series against the Thunder. He averaged 33.0 points in the five-game stretch while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and an incredible 48.1 percent from the 3-point line.
The Blazers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals in the 2019 playoffs, where they unfortunately got swept by the Golden State Warriors. It was still a memorable playoff run for Lillard and the Blazers.