Damian Lillard Scores 71 in Trail Blazers Win Over Rockets

The Portland Trail Blazers are really scratching to make it to the playoffs, but Damian Lillard is doing his part. Lillard scored 71 points as host Portland beat the Houston Rockets 131-114 on February 26th. That output matched the 71 scored by the Cavaliers’ Donavan Mitchell back on January 2nd for most points in a game this season.

Lillard hit 13 three point baskets and was a perfect 14 for 14 from the free throw line. He now has five games in his career of 60 or more points, the third highest behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 32 and Kobe Bryant’s six such games. He’s currently third in scoring in the league, averaging 32.3 points per game. If that holds, it will be a career high; his current career high is 30.0 set back in 2019-20. He is averaging 25.1 points per game over his 11 year NBA career, all of which has been with Portland.

The Trail Blazers (29-31) are 11th in the Western Conference, just a half game behind 10th place New Orleans (30-31) and Minnesota (31-32). The seventh through tenth place teams in each conference will be in a play in tournament to round out the post season field.