November 7, 2024

Damian Lillard drops 61 to lead Portland past Dallas, keep playoff hopes alive

Lillard #Lillard

Damian Lillard matched his career high on Tuesday night. (Kim Klement/Pool Photo/AP) © Provided by Yahoo! Sports Damian Lillard matched his career high on Tuesday night. (Kim Klement/Pool Photo/AP)

Damian Lillard wasn’t going to lose on Tuesday night.

He made sure of that. 

Lillard put up 61 points — marking yet another 50-point game this season — to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Dallas Mavericks 134-131 at Walt Disney World. 

He drew an offensive foul with less than five seconds to go while they were up one, too, negating a made Dallas 3-pointer to help seal the deal. 

Lillard’s performance marked the 11th 50-point game of his career, and the sixth this season alone. He put up 51 in their 124-121 win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, too, making him the first Traill Blazers player to ever have back-to-back 50-point games.

He simply couldn’t miss in the final minutes, either. At one point, he pulled up from well beyond the 3-point line and sunk the shot after catching an insane bounce up and off the rim.

Lillard finished the night with 61 points and eight assists after shooting 9-of-17 from the 3-point line. Carmelo Anthony added 26 points and eight rebounds in the win.

Kristaps Porzingis led Dallas with 36 points while shooting an impressive 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Luka Doncic finished with 25 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 24.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.

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