Damian Lillard was hungry to get his team back in the win column in the playoffs.
His Portland Trail Blazers had been swept in two consecutive playoff series but they finally got out from under that shadow with their 104-99 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1.
Lillard wasted no time to get in the scoring column in this one, pulling up from the Moda Center logo for his first bucket of the game.
First possession of the game? DAME FROM THE LOGO pic.twitter.com/ZmZmxa6ggF
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 14, 2019
And we saw plenty more where that came from throughout the game – four of Lillard's five 3-point makes came from 28-feet or deeper with three of them coming from 30-feet out!
He finished with 30 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals while scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter alone to assure that his team would defend home court and pick up the win.
⌚️ DAME TIME ⌚️@Dame_Lillard's 14 PTS in the 4th help the No. 3 @trailblazers take a 1-0 series lead vs. OKC! #RipCity #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/CLRiR5BkEx
— NBA (@NBA) April 14, 2019
MORE: Takeaways from Trail Blazers close Game 1 win over Thunder
"It's a great feeling," Lillard stated on getting that Game 1 win, overcoming the team's past. "We came into this series knowing we have to be the team that delivers the first blow, we had to come out and be aggressive and have that attitude that we're going to be here all night."
Being swept by the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018, the Trail Blazers were due for a win.
"Last year we didn't win a game and this year we did," Lillard continued on the topic.
"We've gone two playoffs without winning a game so obviously it's a good feeling to get back on the winning side, but it's only one game. We know how it feels to win again and now we can move on from that and stay focused on this series."
The Trail Blazers and Thunder will return to action on Wednesday for Game 2.
