Damian Lillard scored a career-high 43 points in a wild triple-overtime game against the poor San Antonio Spurs, who had the distinct honor of being the first team since the Baltimore Bullets in 1951 to play consecutive 63-minute games. You can watch the highlights of all 43 points above (and I suggest you do, because Lillard was absolutely breathtaking). But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. We’re here to talk about a basket that didn’t count: a dunk that would have forced us to revise every list of top dunks ever constructed (okay, fine, maybe just dunks of the last half-decade).
Still, if Lillard landed that dunk, the Internet might have actually exploded. After it went down, I could barely keep up with my Twitter feed — and that was for a freakin’ miss. Imagine if he’d made it? Thankfully — because God exists and is a fan of great basketball — the game extended into extra time, allowing Lillard to atone for his brush with immortality by throwing down an absurd double-clutch two-handed jam in the second overtime.
Later, Lillard sealed the Spurs’ fate with this ridiculous step-back corner three.
Lillard’s performance overshadowed a brilliant showing by Tim Duncan, who turned back the clock to 2004 and appeared to bury the Blazers in each of the first two overtimes with a slew of turnarounds and great defense. Alas, the creaky Spurs ran out of gas (it happens when you play to triple-OT in back-to-back games), and once Portland built a double-digit lead, Gregg Popovich threw in the towel.
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