Jeremy Lin was one of the most underrated talents in the NBA, having played for top franchises such as the Brooklyn Nets, the Houston Rockets, and the Los Angeles Lakers. In a recent appearance, in a podcast on the Awaken Training YouTube channel, Lin sat in conversation with his former Harvard roommate to reveal some untold stories from his playing days in the league. One such story was about Damian Lillard nailing a game-winning shot against the Houston Rockets in the 2014 Playoffs.
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In Game 6 of the series, the Portland Trail Blazers were playing the Rockets with a 3-2 lead. However, Dame’s Game-winning shot had left the Rockets’ defense in shambles. Jeremy Lin, who was guarding Lillard throughout the game, was subbed out right before Lillard hit that shot against the Rockets.
Lin was extremely frustrated for being subbed out, given he was keeping Lillard in check through the game with his defense. However, while highlighting his frustration, the 2019 NBA champion also pointed out how the Rockets’ defense was having a tough time before that. The team was in confusion of calling their next play against the Trail Blazers, especially Dame, who was snatching the series away from the Rockets.
Describing the heat of that moment, Lin told his former Harvard roommate, “We’re in the timeout and Mikhail is like ‘This is gonna be our coverage.’ And then, James Harden goes, ‘No, No, let’s try to switch instead. And then, Mikhail is like ‘Oh,’ and then there’s this awkward uncertainty and then we break the timeout. And, I’m like ‘Hold on, hold on, timeout like wait which one are we doing? Are we chasing over or are we switching?'”
Despite the timeout, the Rockets had still not decided on calling an effective play against the Trail Blazers. The confusion was visible in Chandler Parsons and James Harden even when they had taken their positions on the court. Lin noticed the two players talking on the court, which is when Damian Lillard intercepted the Rockets and broke their play.
The Portland Trail Blazers eventually overwhelmed the Rockets in a narrow 99-98 margin to clinch the series in Game 6. Had the Rockets won that game, they would have pushed the series to a Game 7 in Houston where they could have enjoyed their home-court advantage.
Damian Lillard had scored his only other buzzer-beater against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019
Damian Lillard is extremely proud of his buzzer-beater shots and has often expressed his thoughts on the one against the Houston Rockets. The game-winner against the Rockets was indeed a special moment for Lillard early in his career.
Explaining his determination behind that play, Dame said, “How was I not worried? If we lost, we were going to Houston for game seven. We weren’t going to win game seven in Houston.”
Damian Lillard had hit another buzzer-beater in his career to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the 2019 Playoff series. This game was extremely special for Dame as he had scored his playoff career-high 50 points and had set a franchise record for the Trail Blazers. This was Lillard’s first 50-point game in a series-clinching game, 25 years since Charles Barkley did the same in 1994.
