PORTLAND — Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard scored a fourth career 60 point in Wednesday’s 134-124 win over the Utah Jazz and made history with his efficiency.
Lillard needed just 29 shot attempts and 10 free throw attempts to score 60 goals, putting him in elite company. Only two other players (Karl Malone at 26 in 1990 and James Harden at 24 in 2019) have scored 60 points on fewer shot attempts, but both scored a high percentage of their points at the foul line and made 23 free throws each.
Meanwhile, only one player to score 60 points (Rick Barry in 1974, with five) has done so with fewer than 10 free-throw attempts. Because of these limited opportunities, Lillard recorded the highest true shot percentage – a measure of combined efficiency in shot attempts and free throws – of all time in a 60-point game (.898).
“That was amazing, man,” said Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. “You don’t see that often to be so efficient. If a guy scores 60 points and only 10 free throws and makes nine of them, you think that guy either has an absurd amount of 3s. It was just unbelievable how efficient he was.”
In fact, Lillard hit nine 3-pointers, finishing second all-time in a 60-point game behind his own 11 in January 2020. He shot 72% overall from the field (21 of 29), sixth best in a 60-point game.
Because he doesn’t typically check his phone until he leaves the arena, Lillard was unaware his 60-point night was historic until the media told him about it after the game.
“It really is the most efficient 60-point game ever?” said Lillard. “That’s crazy. I did not know that. I’m just sitting here thinking I would have had a shot at the end of the shot clock from the half court towards the end I was shooting. It probably would have been a bit better. I missed a free throw. Damn it.”
The early stages of the game offered little sign that Lillard would make the record books. He had just nine points in the first quarter before heating up. Lillard scored 17 points in the second quarter and was at 30 for the game when he exploded late in the third period.
Lillard started with a layup at 6:42 in the third game and scored Portland’s last 20 points of the period, shooting 7-of-9 with three 3-pointers 7 of 9 in that span. According to research from ESPN Stats & Information, he became the third player this season to score 20 straight points for his team, as well as only the second to score 50 points in three quarters. (The Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker was the other.)
Remarkably, Billups had to be persuaded to keep Lillard in the game during this stretch.
“I thought he was tired at the end of the third and he was so hot,” Billups said. “I came into time out and said, ‘How are you feeling? I really wanted to get you out of here for the last two minutes.’ GP (Gary Payton II) and everyone said, ‘No, let him go!’ I said, man, this could end up being a good game. I don’t want to tire him out because he’s 45, 50. He said, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’ I have to trust guys in those moments.”
Despite Lillard’s exploits, the Jazz managed to stay within striking distance, allowing Lillard to return to the game and near his career-high 62 points. He reached 60 for the fourth time in his career on two free throws with 1:37 remaining, but made no attempt to shoot at the Blazers’ next two possessions. Then Billups reminded him of the missions.
“That’s the only reason I kept him in the game,” Billups said. “I would have gotten him out. I told him when I stopped him I was like, ‘Bro, what are you doing?’ We’re playing the same song. I’m trying to get your career up. He looked at me and said, ‘Okay, I can do it.’ Brother I would have gotten you out and got you that standing O you deserve. That just speaks to who he is. He didn’t even think about it.
On the ensuing Portland trip downcourt, Lillard shot a deep 3-pointer before Utah could double it, but he missed. With just seconds left when the Blazers regained the ball, Lillard gave up the pursuit.
“There was still time on the clock but I wasn’t that thirsty to come down with that much time left in the game just to hit a career high,” he explained. “I didn’t feel like that was the right thing to do, so that’s how it ended.”
Lillard earned the second-most points in the NBA this season. Donovan Mitchell had 71 in an overtime game for Cleveland against Chicago on January 3, and Luka Doncic had 60 in Dallas’ OT win over New York on December 27.
As only the fifth player in NBA history to score at least four times 60 points, Lillard is in a group that includes Wilt Chamberlain (32), Kobe Bryant (6), James Harden and Michael Jordan (4 each). a rare position to be able to compare such achievements. For him, the game on Wednesday was characterized by its simplicity.
“It was pretty easy,” he said. “I don’t want to say it was easy because they had some big bodies and some long defenders out there, but I think usually I get into a groove where I just go without making those easy plays that the Teams start coming after me earlier.
“I kicked it forward, I swung it, so it didn’t feel like they were after me until the end. So it seemed like the easiest thing of all.”
Although Lillard is now the third oldest player to have scored 60 points at the age of 32, he has a chance to further increase his total, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He was already impressed by the rare company he joined on Wednesday.
“I’m not going to catch Wilt,” Lillard said. “That’s out. Damn, that’s cool.”
