Beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors by 32...check.
Give them their 5th loss in 53 games...check.
Score a career high 51 points...check.
Experience a historic night that has not happened since 1983...check.
These are just some of the things that Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers was able to do in his first game after the All-Star break. The Blazers dismantled the league leading the Goldenstate, Warriors 137-104 in front of a sellout crowd at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Friday night.
Lillard, who has been a star in this league since his arrival in 2012, was inexcusably left off the All-Star roster even though he is one of the top scorers in the NBA. When the teams were announced Lillard said all the right things and took the "snub" with grace. But deep down Lillard was hurt by the decision and was out to prove the voters wrong.
On a night where the entire world was ready to see the Warriors continue their quest to break the 95-96 Bull's record of 72-10, the Blazers turned out to be the ultimate buzz-saw. Right from the opening tip the Blazers came out like a team that had won eight of their last ten and with an angry point guard leading the charge, they stormed out to an early lead. Lillard led the team like a man possessed and preserved a wire to wire victory the was almost never in doubt. The Blazers once again reached the above 500 mark and now sit in the 7th spot only of a half-game behind Dallas for 6th.
Before the season even started the Blazers lost four out of five starters either to free agency or trades and looked like they were in for a rough rebuilding year. The players that were brought in were unknown commodities with little experience. The team started well but soon looked like the team everyone predicted would lose a lot of game. The lack of experience was showing as they could not hold onto leads in the fourth quarter and looked out-of-sorts in crunch time. To make matters worse Lillard suffered an injury to his foot and was out for most of December.
However, a win over of the Cleveland Cavilers the day after Christmas, plus a win at the Sacramento Kings the next night turned this team around. Since their pre-Christmas road trip where the Blazers were 9 games under 500, they've won 17 of 24 and now sit in the midst of the western conference playoff picture.
The knock on the Blazers was that they didn't have a talented roster but that actually isn't the case. Their players were high touted draft picks who weren't given many opportunities to play in the NBA and develop. Now that these players are getting a chance and the team is pulling together, the league is finally getting a taste of what their full potential is.
The Blazers face a huge test on Sunday as another red hot team, the Utah Jazz rolls into town. The Blazers lead the Jazz by a half-game in the standings and are looking to take 3 out of 4 in the season series.
