Damian Lillard further etched his name in the NBA record books on Sunday night as he became the eighth player in league history to score 70 or more points in a game, as he scored 71 over Houston in a 131-114 Blazers win at home. .

Lillard had it going early and never let up against the young Rockets, racking up an outrageous 41 points in the first half, setting a new career-high for 24 minutes of action, drilling eight 3-pointers in the first two quarters.

The highlight of the first half was on that eighth 3-pointer, when he got up from 39 feet and found nothing but net.

He would add nine points in the third quarter to get to 50 before the final frame, but Houston was spinning, which turned out to be a gift to all of us. There, in the fourth quarter, Lillard painted his masterpiece, helping keep Houston within arm’s reach as he buried bucket after bucket, starting with his 10th 3-pointer of the game shortly after returning.

Later, he hit his 11th 3-pointer of the game and the most amazing highlight of his night, a dunk at 1 that had the Moda Center crowd losing their heads.

Two more 3-pointers got him to 69 points, with a few free throws in between, as he surpassed his old career-high of 61.

Ultimately, he surpassed the 70-point mark for the first time with a floater in the paint.

Lillard’s final stat line reads 71 ​​points on 22-of-38 shooting, 13-of-22 from three-point range, with 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and with the Rockets cutting the lead to single digits in the fourth, the Blazers needed most of all of those before finally walking away with a comfortable victory. He is now third on the NBA’s all-time list for 60-point games in a career with five, behind Kobe Bryant (6) and Wilt Chamberlain (32, lol).

It was an incredible night and one that Blazers fans will remember for a long time as one of the great scorers of this era authored the best game of his career to date.