Damian Lillard has been playing out of his mind since the All-Star break, and Friday was no different.
The Trail Blazers guard scored 50 points, but it wasn't enough to avoid a 117-115 loss to the Raptors.
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Friday's game was his second 50-plus performance in two weeks, following the 51 he put up in an upset win over the Warriors on Feb. 19. It was also the seventh time he scored 30 or more in nine games since the All-Star break.
"How he isn't an All-Star in our league? Shame on us," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said Friday night. "That young man can score any which way he wants to. Talk about (Stephen) Curry coming across half court and shooting it? This young man can come across half court and shoot it also."
The Trail Blazers are 6-3 since the All-Star break, and Lillard has been the catalyst. He's averaging 31.6 points per game in his past 10 games while shooting a respectable 46.5 percent from the field. The team has dropped its past two contests but is still very much in the thick of the playoff race with less than two months remaining in the regular season. Portland has to finish out its six-game road trip against the Pistons on Sunday.
"We really did ourselves a favor winning those first three (games) knowing it was going to be a tough trip," Lillard said, via ForwardCenter.com. "Boston got after us, got a win. (Friday), we gave ourselves a chance against a really good team. We go to Detroit now and we’ve got to really lock in on this one because it would be great to go home off this trip 4-2."
Highlight of the Night
Brook Lopez has been putting the Nets on his shoulders all season, and that continued Friday. Lopez scored 20 points, including this game-winning tip-in, to help the Nets come up with a 121-120 win over the Nuggets.
Brook Lopez tips in the game-winner!https://t.co/hPnSrCTK9S
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) March 5, 2016
Stud of the Night
Bucks guard Khris Middleton was on fire against the Timberwolves. Middleton scored 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including an 8-of-9 performance from the 3-point line in the Bucks' 116-101 win. Giannis Antetokounmpo barely missed a triple-double with 27 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Dud of the Night
The Pacers backcourt of Monta Ellis and Greg Hill was sorely outplayed Friday night by the Hornets duo of Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum. Ellis and Hill were outscored 64-27 by Walker (33 points) and Batum (31 points) as the Hornets came up with a 108-101 win.
Looking Ahead
Celtics (38-25) at Cavaliers (42-17) 7 p.m.: Don’t look now, but the Celtics are just 6.5 games behind the Cavaliers for first place in the Eastern Conference. Thought to be a fringe playoff team coming into the season, the Celtics have won five in a row and six of their past seven games.