Watch: Anfernee Simons, Blazers ruin Damian Lillard’s homecoming

Anfernee Simons hit a go-ahead floater with 17 seconds left to give Portland the lead in their 119-116 win over Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks. It was Lillard's first game back in the city where he played the first 12 seasons of his career, but Simons and his teammates spoiled the homecoming.

Lillard scored 25 points in the loss, after getting a standing ovation from Portland fans, along with two separate tribute videos on the scoreboard. But the fourth-quarter magic he displayed so many times as a Blazer wasn't present Wednesday night, as Lillard missed five of his last six shots to close the game.

Still, it looked like it might be "Dame Time" again in the final minute. His shot wasn't falling, so Lillard drove for a dunk to cut Portland's lead to a point with 1:10 remaining, as announcer Mark Jones confusingly declared, "He hit that like a stimulus check!"

That followed an incredible block by Giannis Antetokounmpo on Deandre Ayton to keep Milwaukee within three.

The play had to give Ayton flashbacks to Game 4 of the 2021 Finals when Antetokounmpo blocked him in an eerily similar way.

Then Lillard found Antetokounmpo on a go-ahead alley-oop, and it looked like Milwaukee would complete a comeback from ten points down. But Simons decided it was not to be.

Portland got big games out of multiple players they got from trading Lillard. Ayton finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, on 10-for-17 shooting. Point guard Malcolm Brogdon, acquired when the Blazers flipped Jrue Holiday to Boston, had 14 points and six assists and was +9 in his 36 minutes. They even got 23 minutes of tough defense out of rookie Toumani Camara, who also came over in the Lillard deal.

The Trail Blazers also got 15 points from rookie Scoot Henderson off the bench, who's gradually shedding his shooting woes by making 50 percent of his shots or more in his last four games. The No. 3 pick was 6-for-11 Wednesday, primarily by getting to the rim repeatedly against the Bucks.

Lillard requested a trade after Portland took Henderson, but it was his former backcourt partner Simons whose clutch shot - and 24 points - sunk the Bucks. They still love Dame Time in Portland, but they love winning even more.