A look at Damian Lillard's historic performance

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Damian Lillard has historic performance vs. Jazz

By Sean Keane | Last updated 1/26/23

In Portland's win over Utah Wednesday night, "Dame Time" was the entire game.

Damian Lillard finished just short of his career-high of 61 points with a ridiculously efficient 60-point performance. Lillard shot an eye-popping 21-29 on the night, going 9-15 behind the arc and 9-10 at the free throw line.

DAMIAN. LILLARD.

60 points
7 rebounds
8 assists
9 threes
21/29 FG (72.4%) pic.twitter.com/NoTJstv2XG
— NBA (@NBA) January 26, 2023

How did he get to 60 so easily? Lillard said it was "simple."

"I think any time you score 60 points it's special, but I think this one I just felt like it came pretty simple," Lillard told reporters after the game. "I knew we needed to win so I came out with a mentality to attack and be aggressive, but it wasn't like I just came out on fire. It wasn't one of those games."

It's scary to think what Lillard would score like if he was on fire.

He joined an elite company with his effort, becoming only the fourth player to ever score 60 points while shooting over 70 percent from the floor.

Blazers star Damian Lillard shot 21-29 (72%) from the field. He's the 4th player to score 60 points on 70% FG pct in a game in NBA history, joining:
- Wilt Chamberlain (4x)
- Karl Malone (Jan. 1990)
- David Thompson (April 1978) @ESPNStatsInfo pic.twitter.com/7WoDC4rNPT
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 26, 2023

Lillard is also only the fifth NBA player to hit the 60-point mark four times, equaling Michael Jordan and James Harden. Kobe Bryant did it six times, and Wilt Chamberlain scored 60 points or more 32 different times.

Any time a player achieves a feat that's also been done by Chamberlain, you know they've done something special. But Lillard is content to just be in Chamberlain's company on this list.

"We ain't catching Wilt," Lillard said with a laugh.

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