Damian Lillard’s amazing finish and 6 other things from Sunday night in the NBA

Damian Lillard has always been overlooked. He’s one of the best shooters in the league at his position and has always been one of the league’s better scorers. Plus, he’s always dependable late in games.

Yet, he’s still been an all-star snub for the last two seasons. He’s never been in the national conversation discussing the best players in the league, either. Until now, that is. On Sunday night, Lillard showed out against Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony. He dropped 36 points and 13 assists while keeping the Trail Blazers’ above water through a late rally from the Thunder.

But there was one moment during the game where you knew it was going to be Lillard’s night. Let’s freeze the frame.

Did that really go in? Seriously. Lillard left two defenders in the dust and finished through George’s 6’10 wingspan? Yup, he’s arrived.

That snapshot came from this. He was too quick for the Thunder to keep up with.

And he was clutch — again. But take a look at the whole performance. It was masterful.

I’m not saying we should call Lillard an MVP candidate or anything at this point, but he’s certainly playing like he believes he should be there. And if he keeps playing this way, there’s no way he’ll be an all-star snub for a third year in a row.

Lil Wayne knows what it is.

Pop is going to go down as one of the best two or three coaches to ever coach the game of basketball, but probably won’t have a coach of the year award to show for it.

On Sunday, he got win 1,156 and passed Phil Jackson on the list for sixth all-time in wins. He’s only 181 wins away from being the all-time leader and he could probably do that in his sleep.

But, of course, it’s Popovich. And he knows when it’s time to use his platform to recognize something bigger than himself. So after he crossed his milestone, he didn’t really feel like talking about basketball in light of the mass shooting that happened in Texas on Sunday morning.

“We won a basketball game. Considering what’s gone on today, it’s pretty meaningless. When you think about the tragedy those families are suffering, it’s just inconceivable — impossible to put your head around,” Popovich said when addressing reporters after the Spurs’ win. “So I think talking about basketball tonight, that would be pretty inappropriate. So you guys have a good night.”

Well done, Popovich. Enough said.

The OG Unicorn is back at it again. Porzingis had to bring his team back from a 19-point deficit after the Indiana Pacers pulled away from the Knicks early on Sunday evening.

The game seemed to be in hand, but talent always shines through in the NBA. Porzingis was very clearly the best player on the floor for either team and proceeded to play like it. He dropped 40 points on the Pacers along with eight rebounds and six (!) blocks — including this one.

Almost every player to put up numbers like those in a single game is in the Hall of Fame today.

It didn’t matter what the defense did. Porzingis was too big and too skilled for them to handle. The 40 points he scored weren’t easy. A lot of them were tough, contested jumpers like these.

At one point, Porzingis scored 15 straight points for the Knicks to rally them back into the game. He put on a clinic on both ends of the floor and showed us exactly why he was the original unicorn.

Don’t look now, but the Lakers are 5-5 and seem to be making fast progress with their young stable of players. Brandon Ingram scored 20 points and snatched seven rebounds in a 107-102 win over the Grizzlies.

The Lakers’ rookies weren’t too bad, either. Kyle Kuzma got his second start of the season and put up his second double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Lonzo Ball hasn’t found his shot quite yet, but still managed to dish out nine assists and grab five rebounds while scoring nine points.

This team probably still isn’t any good, but it’s loads of fun. They’ve got quirky players with lots of flaws, but they’re growing and that’s fun to watch. Plus they do things like this sometimes.

SHOWTIME IS BACK, BABY.

How do you stop this from happening?

You don’t. It just happens. Wrong time, wrong place Jazz.

Harden only missed six shots throughout the whole game and took 25 total to score his points.

The only other player in league history to score that efficiently? Michael Jordan himself. Harden is consistently hitting levels that all-time great players have in this league. He’s one of the best offensive players we’ve ever seen. I mean, look at this.

Need more proof that Harden’s one of the best you’ve ever seen? Here you go.

Any time you’ve got a guard being mentioned in the same breath as Wilt Chamberlain, you know you’re dealing with something special. That’s what Harden was against Utah and that’s what he’s been during his time in Houston.

And Harden seems to be a pretty cool dude, too.

Fear the beard.

With no John Wall on the road against the Raptors, Beal scored 38 points, giving him three straight games of at least 36 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

Beal came out the gate hot against the Raptors and dropped 22 points in the first half. He hurt Toronto from outside with his three ball and inside on drives.

Keep playing like that? That All-Star nod is coming soon.

Yup. They gave the Hawks their second win of the season.

Better luck next time, fellas.

Hawks 117, Cavs 115 (Peachtree Hoops Recap | Fear The Sword Recap)

Heat 104, Clippers 101 (Hot Hot Hoops Recap | Clips Nation Recap)

Celtics 104, Magic 88 (Celtics Blog Recap | Pinstripe Post Recap)

Wizards 107, Raptors 96 (Bullets Forever Recap | Raptors HQ Recap)

Rockets 137, Jazz 110 ( The Dream Shake Recap | SLC Dunk Recap)

Spurs 112, Suns 95 ( Pounding the Rock Recap | Bright Side of the Sun Recap)

Knicks 108, Pacers 101 (Posting and Toasting Recap | Indy Cornrows Recap)

Timberwolves 112, Hornets 94 ( Canius Hoopus Recap | At The Hive Recap)

Trail Blazers 103, Thunder 99 ( WTLC Recap | Blazer’s Edge Recap )

Lakers 107, Grizzlies 102 (Silver Screen and Roll Recap | Grizzly Bear Blues Recap)