The painful loss that the Portland Trail Blazers suffered against the LA Clippers on Saturday was unforgettable. On top of which, the trash talk and post-game verbal jabs made it all the more worse for the Blazers. Damian Lillard is known for his “Lillard time,” which means he stands out in his closing act. On the contrary, he shockingly missed two free-throws with 18.6 seconds left in the game. This would have put the Blazers one point above the Clippers.
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The opportunity to come at Damian for his misses was very well grabbed by the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley and Paul George. Beverley was benched but was seen imitating the trademark Dame Time by pointing to his wrist. He was also waving goodbye to Damian along with Paul after the stinging loss of 122-117.
Blazers are here to win
The trash-talking continued on social media. The players made sure Lillard does not forget the tough loss. However, Lillard has a lot of hope for his team. In an Interview with TNT, he is asked what his mindset has been to play in the bubble.
Lillard says,” I didn’t want to have to come here and train and do all this stuff to come here to play eight games and go home and our team is finding for it right now. My mentality was to come here and show up, you know, complete at the highest level and try to have the biggest impact I can have on winning.”
He mentions that he loves the fact that all his team members know exactly what they have come to accomplish and are working hard towards that.
Damian fires back
Lillard is not one to stand back and take trash talk. The antics that Patrick Beverley and Paul George came up with were answered through facts. In the interview, Damian was asked about all the jabs that the Clippers’ players threw at him and whether he thought it was inappropriate or went too far.
Lillard says,” I missed two free throws into the game, which is not something that I typically would do. Some failures don’t happen. You know I’m not above failing or coming up short and it happened in that moment.”
Lillard agreed that it went overboard,” when they started tapping their wrists and waving.” But Damian had some very strong responses, too.
When asked about these jabs, he said, “Then I was asked about it and when I was asked about it, I was like shots being fired in my direction, I’m going to fire back facts.
“Asking me about Patrick Beverley, who I sent him home before at the end of a game. Paul George is a guy sent home by me last year in the playoffs, so they know. The reason they reacting like that is because of what they expecting from me, which is a sign of respect, and it just shows what I have done at a high clip more times than not. I am not offended by it. If anything, it should just tell you how much it hurt them to go through what I put them through in those situations previously.” said Lillard.
He made sure that they know that he is not one to be messed with.
