It was Lillard Time late in the fourth quarter Sunday night.
Dame poured in 17 of his 31 points in the final three minutes, splashing home five three-pointers to rally the Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-110 win against the visiting OKC Thunder.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 53 points, but it wasn’t enough.
Per The Oregonian:
“That was quite a performance by Dame in those two minutes,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “We were battling the whole game and he came up big. I mean, he hit five threes in two minutes. You don’t see that very often.” […] While Lillard was spectacular, dropping long-range step backs with defenders right in his face and adding a familiar tap of his wrist in the process, the Blazers pulled out the win on the defensive end.
The Blazers defense backed up Lillard’s firepower. Al-Farouq Aminu came away with a key steal, tipping a pass from Thunder big man Serge Ibaka that led to a transition opportunity for the Blazers. Lillard, who had already made four three-pointers in the quarter, didn’t wait long to get another shot up, quickly hoisting a three-pointer from the right wing to put Portland up 113-110 with just over a minute remaining. […] “It’s like that sometimes. When you see the ball go in a few times and then the team is defending you the way we defended and you just keep getting it back,” Lillard said. “You get a stop and you keep getting the ball back. I just wanted to ride it out and I was able to do it tonight.”
Lillard added nine assists and seven rebounds to go with his 31 points, going 9-for-18 from the floor and 8-for-14 from three-point range. (C.J.) McCollum had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Aminu finished with 16 points. […] Durant (28 points, six rebounds) and Westbrook (25 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds) each scored 14 points in the third quarter, combining to shoot 8-for-13 from the field and 10-for-12 at the free throw line in the quarter. But the Blazers held Durant scoreless in the fourth quarter.
