Apparently “Dame Time” doesn’t get to go on vacation during the All-Star break.
In his sixth All-Star Game, Damian Lillard scored the last 11 points of the game for “Team LeBron,” including a game-winning 40-foot three-pointer, to lift his squad past “Team Durant” 170-150 at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game at State Farm Arena in Atlanta Sunday night.
“Last year I didn’t get to play in the All-Star Game since they’ve had the new format and I was able to be out there for that last 24 (points),” said Lillard in reference to the “Elam ending” in which teams play to a final score rather than a set amount of time. "I was happy I could be a part of that, the ending of the game and I could have an impact on the end of the game.”
Lillard finished with 32 points, the most a Blazer has ever scored in an All-Star Game, on 11-of-20 shooting from the field and 8-of-16 shooting from three, two rebounds and an assist in 21 minutes. Only Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was named the 2021 All-Star MVP, finished the game with more points (35).
While this year’s All-Star Game was a slimmed down version of the usual mid-season event -- all the events were held on one night, only a limited number of fans were allowed in the arena and none of the off-court event that are usually the hallmark of All-Star Weekend were held -- the game itself was very similar to the usual affair. The two teams -- one selected by LeBron James and the other by Kevin Durant -- got off to a slow start, though as the night went on, the competition got more stiff.
But the highlight was the impromptu shooting contest between Lillard and one of his “Team LeBron” teammates, Stephen Curry. The two guards, both known for their willingness to take and ability to make deep three-pointers, took turns seeing far they could extend their respective ranges.
By time the game was over, both Lillard and Curry had made shots from the halfcourt line, though the former even made one attempt from behind the midcourt line. The back-and-forth was the culmination of years of discussion between the two guards, one who plays in the Bay Area and the other who grew up in Oakland, about the prospect of a halfcourt shooting competition.
“I haven’t done it in an actual game, I wanted to test it out in some live action,” said Lillard about pulling up from behind halfcourt. “It felt decent. It felt fine, like a normal jumper, I was able to shoot it pretty easy. We talked about it in the huddle, me, Steph and (Chris Paul) was like ‘Alright, we all gotta catch a lob and we’ve got to pull one of these threes.’ CP never got around to his three but we all got a lob and me and Steph got some deep ones off.”
With “Team LeBron” holding a commanding lead for the final quarter, Lillard and his teammates had plenty of time to finish the night off. But rather than letting the game drag out, Lillard used his standard late-game approach, devastating the opponent with a barrage of deep three-pointers in crunch time, that has served him well during his eight-plus seasons in Portland.
After scoring on a layup and consecutive 36-foot three-pointers, Lillard had “Team LeBron” just three-points away from the target score of 170 (the NBA takes the score of the team in the lead at the end of the third quarter and then adds 24 -- an homage to the late Kobe Bryant -- to get the target score that is the comprises what is known as an “Elam ending” to a basketball game).
But after Curry’s attempt to win the game with a three on the next possession failed, Lillard took it upon himself to do what he’s done on so many previous occasions: win the game with a three-point shot.
The 6-3 guard out of Weber State collected the inbound pass, sauntered up the left side of the court, got one step past halfcourt and, saw how far off both James Harden and Bradley Beal were defending him (in their defense, it was an All-Star Game) and decided to do what he does best.
“I hit two in a row and I knew that we had game point at the three,” recalled Lillard. “The ball came off Steph’s hand and he pulled up. Once he missed his -- and he inbounded the ball to me on the next one -- I was like ‘I’m bout to fire this one.’ They backed up a little bit and I just rose up.”
And thus, another game-winner was added to Lillard’s resume.
Lillard’s shot brought to a close one an All-Star Sunday night at also saw Robert Covington compete in the Skills Challenge and Anfernee Simons win the Dunk Contest. It didn’t look much like a standard NBA All-Star Weekend thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it ultimately provided a good night for the NBA, and especially Trail Blazers fans.
“The actual basketball side of it was pretty smooth, obviously it wasn’t the typical All-Star Weekend,” said Lillard. “But it had to be done and we got it done, we showed up and did what we needed to do, it was a good time.”