Portland Trail Blazers fans know that when the game is in its dying moments, one should be ready for Dame Time. Five-time All-Star Damian Lillard has always been a clutch player, right from his days at Weber State.
One of his best performances came against San Jose State during his redshirt junior year in 2011. The Wildcats were coming off a loss against Saint Mary’s, despite Lillard scoring 36. So when he arrived for their next game, Lillard wanted to come home with nothing but a win.
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Damian Lillard: Resilient as ever
The Wildcats were struggling to make shots. By half-time, they managed a three-point lead, and Lillard had scored just 10 by then. The Spartans were slowly coming back during the second half and took the lead in the last few seconds.
Lillard refused to give up and hit a game-tying three with 5.6 seconds left on the clock, sending the game to overtime. He received the ball from Jordan Richardson, and after analyzing for a second, he went for the dribble pull-up. His jump shot was too quick for his defender, who could just watch the ball sink into the net. He scored 24 of Weber State’s 67 points as they headed into OT.
The Spartans defenders were once again left helpless as Lillard continued his scoring in overtime. In the first overtime, he scored eight out of the 11 points the Wildcats scored. In the second overtime, he scored nine out of the Wildcats’ total 13 points and showed his leadership.
At the end of the game. Lillard finished the go-ahead layup, which turned into an and-1 after a foul. Weber State won by two points, with the game ending 91-89. In this 41 point performance, he shot 13-21 from the field and a crazy 7-10 from three.
Weber State hero
During his tenure with Weber State, Lillard led them to two Big Sky titles and won two MVPs. In his final season, he became the only player in Big Sky Conference history to be named in the All-American teams.
So he arrived in the 2012 NBA Draft with an impressive resume following his exploits in NCAA basketball. Lillard continues to be a nightmare for defenders, night in night out, just like he was during his Weber State days.
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