Lillard has 71 points, 13 3s, Blazers beat Rockets 131-114
PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard set franchise and career highs with 71 points — tied for the most in the NBA this season — and 13 3-pointers and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a twogame skid with a 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
Lillard tied Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell for the most points in a game this season after Mitchell also scored 71 in a win over Chicago on Jan. 2.
“I enjoy those moments in the game when I’m just going after people,” Lillard said, “when I’m in attack mode.”
And Lillard got drug tested by the league shortly after his performance — which kind of dampened the moment because Lillard is afraid of needles.
“I know I’ve got a lot of tattoos, but when you’re doing a blood draw, it’s different from tattoos. It brought me down from here to floor,” Lillard said gesturing from above his head and then dropping his hand.
Lillard broke his own franchise mark of 61 points, which he’d done twice, on a 3-pointer with 4:42 left that also topped his previous career record for 3s, which was 11.
Lillard’s 13 3-pointers were one shy of the NBA record set by Golden State’s Klay Thompson in 2018. Thompson’s Warriors teammate Stephen Curry (2016) and Chicago’s Zach LaVine (2019) also made 13 3s.
“I think any hooper enjoys those moments when you’re hot, you’re in attack mode, you’re feeling good,” Lillard said. “But it’s the stuff afterward that I struggle with, like when I walked off the court, was I supposed to be overly excited, or what?”
In the final minutes, the crowd at the Moda Center was on its feet, phones recording the moment, while chanting “MVP! MVP!”
Lillard left the game with 44 seconds left, tied with Mitchell, Elgin Baylor (1960) and David Robinson (1994) for the eighthmost points scored in a game in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain owns the league record with 100 for Philadelphia against New York on March 2, 1962, at Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Lillard had 41 points and eight 3-pointers by halftime. It was a career high in a half for Lillard and the most points in a half for any player in the league this season. He had 50 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Lillard finished 22 of 38 from the floor and he hit on 13 of his 22 3-point attempts. He was also 14 of 14 from the foul line.
Jerami Grant added 13 points for the Blazers, who led by as many as 23. Portland is part of a cluster of eight Western Conference just four wins apart that are vying for playoff spots.