Google News Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard drops playoff record 12 threes in Game 5 vs Nuggets
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Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard delivered a historic performance on Tuesday night but it wasn't enough as the Denver Nuggets claimed a 147-140 double-overtime win to take a 3-2 lead in their first round playoff series.
Lillard dropped 55 points on the Nuggets -- hit a playoff record of 12 threes -- but even that wasn't enough for his team to beat the Nuggets and take a 3-2 lead. Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts was impressed by the performance Lillard delivered.
"It was the best playoff performance I've ever seen," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said, per ESPN. "He gave it his all." Lillard had a historic performance but he wasn't impressed too much since they lost. "It don't matter.
We lost the game," Lillard said. "At this point, all that matters is we can't lose another game in the series. We go out there and we play to win the game, and we came up short."
CJ McCollum impressed by Lillard's performance
"The degree of difficulty on which he hit some of those shots is godlike," McCollum said.
"To be able to create space and shoot from so far out contested time after time. It's a shame we wasted one of the all-time performances by not being more supportive for him." Blazers forward Robert Covington also had a good performance as he posted 19 points and 11 rebounds.
"He did everything that he could," Covington said. Trail Blazers head coach Stotts is hoping his team will bounce back in Game 6. "I have empathy for Dame. I have empathy for anybody on our team," Stotts said. "But now's not the time for empathy.
Now's the time to regroup and come back and get Game 6." Nuggets star big man Nikola Jokic was also absolutely impressed by the performance Lillard put up. "It was a pleasure to be on the court to witness that," Jokic said of Lillard's performance.
Niuggets' Michael Porter Jr. had 26 points and 12 rebounds in Game 6. "I can't let a team or game plan take me out of a game, like what happened in Game 4," Porter said. "Even though they're doing a really tough job on me, I've got to continue to help my team any way I can." Lillard is hoping to deliver another great performance in Game 6 as not it's "do or die" time. "Tough loss, man," Lillard said. "It's do or die now."