Damian Lillard - Dan Devine's Player of the Quarter
Posted: Mon Mar 6, 2023 11:57 pm
The "award" is pretty meaningless, but the stats are impressive and interesting.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-third-quarter-awards-no-team-was-better-than-the-bucks-and-dame-lillard-was-on-another-level-183749221.html
A few excerpts:
"These quarterly awards, though, are bound by nothing but whatever I feel like writing about … and right now, I feel like tipping the cap to a guy who’s averaged nearly 39 points a night for seven friggin’ weeks."
"After topping 40 points three times through his first 40 games of the season, Lillard’s done it 10 times in his last 21 appearances — including 50 on 28 shots against Cleveland, 60 on 29 shots against Utah and, of course, a career-high 71 on 38 shots against Houston on Sunday — to lead the league in scoring in Q3."
"Lillard devastated all over the court in Q3, posting the kind of sky-high true shooting percentage (which factors in 2-point, 3-point and free-throw accuracy) typically associated with low-usage, catch-and-dunk big men (and Jokic, the exception to so many rules). He shot 70% inside the restricted area (which would be a career-high for a full season) and averaged 15.2 points per game off drives to the basket (ditto). Any concerns about him losing his ability to get to the free-throw line feel, oh, so very last season; nobody took more freebies than Lillard’s 245 in Q3 (an average of 11.7 attempts per game), and he missed a grand total of 11 of them, a 95.5% clip."
"He drilled a downright Durantian 57.1% of his midrange tries, too, though he rarely took them — preferring, instead, to launch nearly a dozen triples a night, and splash 40.2% of them. (Again: Both would be career highs.) Lillard took 184 pull-up 3s in Q3; only 122 other players even took that many shots overall. He made more off-the-bounce 3s in that span than 14 TEAMS!"
"The threat of those live-dribble bombs — which Lillard’s become increasingly comfortable taking from absurd length, going 21-of-55 (38.2%) from beyond 30 feet in Q3 — can stretch defenses past their breaking points."
And that doesn't even include the 41 Dame dropped in yesterday's win over Orlando. It's too bad the Blazers are short handed, poorly coached and losing, because we are witnessing the best stretch of the best season of Dame's career.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-third-quarter-awards-no-team-was-better-than-the-bucks-and-dame-lillard-was-on-another-level-183749221.html
A few excerpts:
"These quarterly awards, though, are bound by nothing but whatever I feel like writing about … and right now, I feel like tipping the cap to a guy who’s averaged nearly 39 points a night for seven friggin’ weeks."
"After topping 40 points three times through his first 40 games of the season, Lillard’s done it 10 times in his last 21 appearances — including 50 on 28 shots against Cleveland, 60 on 29 shots against Utah and, of course, a career-high 71 on 38 shots against Houston on Sunday — to lead the league in scoring in Q3."
"Lillard devastated all over the court in Q3, posting the kind of sky-high true shooting percentage (which factors in 2-point, 3-point and free-throw accuracy) typically associated with low-usage, catch-and-dunk big men (and Jokic, the exception to so many rules). He shot 70% inside the restricted area (which would be a career-high for a full season) and averaged 15.2 points per game off drives to the basket (ditto). Any concerns about him losing his ability to get to the free-throw line feel, oh, so very last season; nobody took more freebies than Lillard’s 245 in Q3 (an average of 11.7 attempts per game), and he missed a grand total of 11 of them, a 95.5% clip."
"He drilled a downright Durantian 57.1% of his midrange tries, too, though he rarely took them — preferring, instead, to launch nearly a dozen triples a night, and splash 40.2% of them. (Again: Both would be career highs.) Lillard took 184 pull-up 3s in Q3; only 122 other players even took that many shots overall. He made more off-the-bounce 3s in that span than 14 TEAMS!"
"The threat of those live-dribble bombs — which Lillard’s become increasingly comfortable taking from absurd length, going 21-of-55 (38.2%) from beyond 30 feet in Q3 — can stretch defenses past their breaking points."
And that doesn't even include the 41 Dame dropped in yesterday's win over Orlando. It's too bad the Blazers are short handed, poorly coached and losing, because we are witnessing the best stretch of the best season of Dame's career.