CJ McCollum commends Damian Lillard on his clutch plays to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat Steph Curry and the Warriors.
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Any game which features undeniably the 2 best shooters from beyond the arc in Steph Curry and Damian Lillard is bound to be a thriller. Whenever the Blazers match up against the Warriors, Damian Lillard shifts into another gear to best the team that has knocked him out of the Playoffs on several occasions.
Though Dame did have an abysmal first 3 quarters of the game, guys like Carmelo Anthony and Robert Covington helped keep the Blazers afloat, despite Curry going off for 30+ yet again.
The Blazers’ point guard did however find his footing late in the 4th quarter. He drained a jaw-dropping step-back 3 from deep in his former teammate, Kent Bazemore’s face.
DAMIAN LILLARD. GAME WINNER. pic.twitter.com/YppdRM04hY
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 4, 2021
Though this put Dame and co. up by 2, there was still plenty of time left for the Warriors to retaliate and upstage the Blazers.
Damian Lillard draws the game winning charge on Draymond Green
With 13.7 seconds still remaining on the clock, Steph Curry and the Warriors had enough time to set up a play to tie the ball game up or win it all. The Blazers surprisingly played great defense to upset the set play for Curry and the ball eventually found its way to Draymond Green.
Draymond Green pump fake beyond the arc, which RoCo bit on for whatever reason, and drove to the basket. His make would’ve tied the game up 108 a piece but was ruled as a charge. None other than Damian Lillard was on the receiving end of this charge as the Blazers managed to pull away for the win.
Damian Lillard draws a potentially game-winning charge pic.twitter.com/CwdyDB8e0v
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) March 4, 2021
Postgame, NBA Twitter blew up with a multitude of people showing admiration for Dame’s willingness to put his body in harm’s way to secure the win for Portland. CJ McCollum, who’s been sidelined for nearly a month now, took to Twitter to commend his running mate on his big-time plays down the stretch.
Big time Charge ! Winning plays @Dame_Lillard leader !! Good win fellas
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) March 4, 2021
Despite the terrible shooting, Dame took it up several notches when in the clutch. He leads the league in clutch field goal percentage at 61% and clutch 3-point percentage at 60%. Dame and the Blazers look to finish off the first half of their schedule with a win over the Sacramento Kings tomorrow night.