Giant Lillard: 71 points, 13 triples… and blood control

These are not good years for the Portland Trail Blazers. After eight consecutive seasons in the playoffs, all of them with Terry Sttots, last season he was left out of the final rounds already with Chauncey Billups on the bench. A bad path that seems destined to repeat this year, although Damian Lillard he resists it. The Oregon franchise is 11th in the Western Conference, half a game away from the play-in, thanks to the point guard, who this morning in the victory against the Houston Rockets (131-114) he had a performance with honors. Giant. Immeasurable.

Lillard rocketed to 71 points on 13 of 22 from the perimeter. He also added 6 rebounds and 6 assists to leave Texans on the canvas who endured the downpour as long as they could with Sengun and Tate (17 points each). Usman Garuba had 3 points and 1 rebound in his eight minutes on the court. The Rockets already have 47 losses this season for a 21.7% win rate, the worst percentage in the entire League.

But back to Lillard. His scoring matches the season high owned by Donovan Mitchell. He guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers he did it in January in Chicago. It is also, best mark in Portland Trail Blazers history and the eighth time a player has reached that many points in the NBA in a single game. Elgin Baylor and David Robinson also reached that number in 1960 and 1994, respectively. The all-time record is still held by Wilt Chamberlain, who hit 100 in Philadelphia against New York on March 2, 1962.

It is the fifth time in his career that he has a game with 60 points or more.. Ahead, only two more colossi: the aforementioned Chamberlain, who holds the record with 32 games!, and Kobe Bryant. The late Lakers legend shot to those figures six times, with a maximum 82 points, the second-highest mark ever in the North American League. A huge number of figures and records that make Lillard a special player, the support of a franchise that does not know if he is coming or going. If he needs a rebuild or a little touch ups. Of course, those 71 points had a consequence: as soon as the duel finished, the point guard had to pass a blood doping control.