“I’ve never been in this type of rhythm in my life.”
Indeed, Damian Lillard. In fact, very, very few NBA players ever have.
The Portland Trail Blazers star continued his scorching scoring run Saturday with yet another masterpiece, lighting up the Utah Jazz for 51 points.
It marked his fourth 50-point game of the season, which is impressive enough. But three of those have come in the past six contests, a jaw-dropping stretch also featuring 48-, 47- and 36-point outings.
Lillard is averaging 48.8 points over those six games, one of the most prodigious scoring spans in recent NBA history.
Per Elias, Damian Lillard joined James Harden and Kobe Bryant as the only players to score at least 293 points over a six-game span in the last 20 years. Harden had 296 over 6 games last January. https://t.co/fdXhyCelWI
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 2, 2020
But wait, there’s more!
Lillard has 49 3-pointers during his streak, the most of any six-game stretch in NBA history. And he’s not just gunning, either. With 12 assists against the Jazz, Lillard is also averaging 10.2 assists, making him the first player in league annals to average at least 45 points and 10 assists over six games.
.@Dame_Lillard is the FIRST PLAYER in NBA history to average 45 points and 10 assists over a 6-game span.
Watch his best play from each of those 6 games! pic.twitter.com/3Pz2dWPMQL
— NBA (@NBA) February 2, 2020
And the cherry on top: Lillard has been hyper-efficient, shooting 54.8 percent overall, 57 percent on 3-pointers and 92.3 percent from the foul line.
Remarkable stuff, to say the least. Next up? Against the Nuggets on Tuesday, against whom Lillard has scored 32 and 13 in two previous meetings, with the latter tied for his third-lowest output of the season.
The way he’s going, however, that would be an average quarter.
