Just a few days after Damian Lillard dropped a vintage 43-point performance against the Hornets, the 6-foot-2 guard was in form once again as the Trail Blazers took on the Pelicans in New Orleans.
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He went off for 39 points, tied for his second-highest tally this season, on 13-of-24 shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc as he continued his recent red-hot streak.
Dame last 3 games:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 22, 2021
38.0 PPG
6.7 APG
5.0 3PG
55/48/91% pic.twitter.com/vITYe53P5z
However, the game-high tally wasn't enough to lead the shorthanded Portland squad to the win. With six minutes to go, the Trail Blazers were within touching distance as they only trailed by two (93-91).
Despite being so close, they had no answer for the Pelicans 19-6 run to end the game with Nickeil Alexander-Walker scoring seven of his 18 fourth-quarter points as part of the run.
NAW really feelin' it right now - up to 23 points (5-7 from 3️⃣) pic.twitter.com/HfYUFjDT9C
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 22, 2021
Meanwhile, Lillard who is known to take over late with "Dame Time" only managed two points over the final six minutes and seemed frustrated with the officiating. He received both his technicals in the span of the final two minutes of the game, which eventually led to his first career ejection.
.@Dame_Lillard was just ejected for the first time in his career...with 1.2 seconds left in the game.
— Jay Allen (@PDXjay) December 22, 2021
Coming into this contest, the six-time All-Star had received 29 technicals in his career but never got called for two in the same game which would lead to an ejection.
This was Lillard's 708th career regular-season game. His tally of 707 games, over 10 seasons, is far from the most in NBA history but still a considerable number.
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