MILWAUKEE – Damian Lillard reached another career milestone on Tuesday and he made it look easy.
Heading into the game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Milwaukee Bucks guard was just six points away from becoming the 51st player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points, and he wasn't wasting much time.
On the Bucks' fourth possession, Giannis Antetokounmpo raced down the court and hit a crosscourt pass to Lillard, who made a catch-and-shoot three-pointer on the left wing for Lillard's first basket of the night. Two and a half minutes later, Lillard brought the ball down the floor, started a pick-and-roll with Brook Lopez on the left wing and knocked down a stepback midrange jumper on the left wing as the Spurs were slow to rotate to him.
After a timeout by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, a bad pass forced Spurs winger Devin Vassell to throw a looping pass behind his back toward halfcourt to keep the ball from going out of bounds. Lillard caught the ball on the run at the midfield line and raced up the ground. With a Euro-step, he split the Spurs defenders in front and behind him and delivered a right-handed layup off the glass.
And with that, Lillard had 20,001 career points. By surpassing the 20,000 mark in 794 career games, Lillard became the 17th-fastest player to reach the milestone.
“I mean, I don’t want to downplay it like it’s nothing,” Lillard said after the Bucks’ 132-119 win. “I know it's a big deal. It's a great achievement. This is a rare situation. The fact that only 51 players in the history of this league have achieved something like that speaks for itself in my opinion.”
When Lillard entered the top five 3-pointers of his career against the Indiana Pacers on December 13, he told reporters that his mother and other family members had told him in the past that he could do a better job and capture the moments must enjoy with which he writes history or reaches a milestone. On Tuesday, Lillard didn't appear to have that problem.
“I look at what led to this,” Lillard said. “All the things I think about in high school and college, the doubts I faced throughout my career. What I shouldn't be before the NBA, what I shouldn't achieve and just my mentality with all of those things. Sometimes you don't really see the light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to believe in yourself, and often people on the outside don't see it.
“When I was younger I was offended by it. I asked myself, “Why don't they see what I see in myself?” What I found is that I have true belief in myself. I invest a lot in the things that give me a chance to be successful and it just kept working. That's why I never waver when I'm having difficulties or when I'm not at my best and I'm criticized or others have something to say because I know that I'm true to my opinion. And I've experienced these moments in my career, from middle school to high school to college to the NBA.
“And I know that because of the way I live my life off the floor and conduct my business on the floor, I will have my time at some point. People will see my true character when I have big moments like tonight because of how they've seen me deal with the struggles and the ups and downs. That's what I think about when I achieve such an achievement. I think about everything that went into me and got to this point.”
Growing up in East Oakland, Lillard gained his reputation as a three-point shooter on a milk crate that his grandfather had nailed to a neighborhood telephone pole. When he finished his high school career, he was considered a two-star prospect and ended up at Weber State in Ogden, Utah. He managed to catch the attention of NBA scouts and became the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
From there, he had 11 spectacular seasons in Portland before the Trail Blazers traded him to Milwaukee this fall. On Tuesday, he did what he usually does after reflecting on his past: He started thinking about what he could accomplish in the future.
“And on the other hand… like I said about achievements, I'm like a human being and maybe I can get to 27 or 28 (thousand) if I stay healthy,” Lillard said with a smile. “If I’m on a good team and I don’t have to kill myself every night, I think I have a good chance of getting up there.”
Especially against the Spurs, it was easy to see why Lillard might feel that way.
After scoring his final career milestone, Lillard just kept scoring. At the end of the night, Lillard scored 40 points, his first 40-point effort as a Buck, as well as three rebounds and four assists. And he made it look easy.
“He scores 40 points … like a normal night, like it's a normal thing,” said Bobby Portis (23 points, 10 rebounds). “He makes it look easy. A damn good player. I’m glad he’s my teammate.”
Lillard scored 19 points in the first quarter alone. It was the third straight game in which Lillard scored 15 or more points in the first quarter. Lillard played for himself in the first quarter, having performed so well in Portland for over a decade, but he also benefited from playing against Antetokounmpo, who hit him twice in transition for simple catch-and-shoot looks.
“I knew right away, 'Okay, this is going to be one of those games where if Giannis goes downhill, there are bodies in front of him and I just have to be ready to shoot,'” Lillard said. “Early in the game I got a couple of clean looks and saw the ball go in and after that I think Giannis did a great job of knowing they were going to put up a wall and he just knew where I was was on the ground and I was just catching and shooting at that point.”
And while Antetokounmpo may have simply done this to play defense and score points of his own later in the game, the Bucks' All-NBA forward stuck to his game plan all night and finished the game with 11 points and 14 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists.
Despite one of the best shooters in NBA history spotting him at the 3-point line, the Spurs continued to provide help to Antetokounmpo in the second half.
Antetokounmpo continued to make the right play.
In the end, Spurs weren't much of a challenge. But the Bucks, en route to their fifth straight win, took it seriously early in the evening, taking control of the game early and never letting San Antonio get back into the game. With Antetokounmpo and Lillard working together like they did Tuesday, it's easy to see why Lillard thinks Milwaukee could be a comfortable place to spend the next few years.
(Photo by Damian Lillard: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)