Damian Lillard was a basketball player-inspired last night against the Orlando Magic. To their credit, the Magic are playing well above their heads, as they routinely strike above their weight class. But last evening, they couldn't stop the Damian Lillard onslaught, which accounted for a scoring binge of historic proportions.
The Magic were leading by a comfortable but not insurmountable 10-point cushion at halftime, right before Damian Lillard picked up the pace. Lillard and his shooting hand remained hot for 19 of 24 minutes in the 2nd half. Within those 19 minutes of action, Lillard put up 38, yes 38 points! The overlooked star finished the game with 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, to rival Steph Curry incredible performance just days ago.
The typical demure Damian Lillard addressed his scoring spree after the game. Apparently, a heckler was jawing him from behind the Orlando Magic throughout the first half, when Lillard was shooting bricks to start. Normally, Lillard would ignore such commentary, but in this instance, the heckler was so loud and obnoxious it wound up motivating him to do better. Let that be a lesson to opposing fans.
Damian Lillard's 38 points are now the franchise record for a 2nd half performance, over Trail Blazers' greats such as Brandon Roy, Clyde Drexler, Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Duckworth, and LaMarcus Aldridge.