For the first time in seven games, the Portland Trail Blazers finally got the best of the Golden State Warriors. In the process of doing so, two of the players who will take part in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game showed why they’re headed to Los Angeles this weekend.
Damian Lillard dropped in 44 points on 14-for-25 shooting (and a 12-for-12 showing at the free throw line) to power Portland’s 123-117 win against Golden State last night. Not to be outdone, the Warriors’ Kevin Durant went for 50 points on 17-for-27 shooting (and 10-for-10 on FTs) to keep his squad in the game.
Durant will suit up for LeBron James’ Team LeBron in Saturday’s All-Star Game (7 ET, TNT), while Lillard is a part of Stephen Curry’s Team Stephen. Given the pace of recent All-Star games, there’s a chance Durant, Lillard or any number of players could put on a scoring showcase much like the one that happened at Moda Center on Wednesday.
Lillard has two games of 40-plus points this season (the other was a 50-point effort in 29 minutes on Feb. 9 in a win against the Sacramento Kings). For Durant, this was his fifth career game of 50-plus points, but his first since March 21, 2014 when he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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