Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard is back, at least for All-Star Saturday Night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
The nine-time All-Star, who has not played this season after suffering a torn left Achilles tendon in the playoffs last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, won his third 3-point shooting contest after outlasting Devin Booker in the final round.
Lillard, who joined Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only three-time 3-point contest winners, was just happy to complete once again.
“For me, it means a lot,” he said after the victory. “Just being able to get involved in some competition, feel a little bit of pressure, to do something that I haven’t been able to do all year. But just as a shooter, anytime you can get in this competition and win it amongst other great shooters, I think that’s one of the greatest honors you can have as a shooter in this league. Then, to get my third and kind of join a different group was special, too.”
The 35-year-old Lillard, who was able to get the win after Booker missed his final three shots, wasn’t sure he would win, but “Dame Time” knew he had a shot.
“I knew that this would not be an issue for me,” he said. “I can’t say I knew that I would win because you just never know, but I knew I would be able to be strong out there and have a chance to. I came in confident. I’m fresh. I don’t have to go out there and play 40 minutes, 35 minutes. I think just having this year to be away, my mind and body is just fresh. So I came out there excited to do it, and that was it. Then at the end, I saw I was kind of at his(Booker) mercy. I was just like, man, he got a — these shots can’t go in.”
The 14-year veteran wants to return next season and play at a high level. He gave an update on his progress at this stage of his rehab.
“I think I’m at the stage where, like, it’s just testing it, going through like a harsh scale of testing to where I’m not giving it any advantages,” Lillard said. “You isolate it, and you put it in positions to know what’s really there. When I’m jumping on both feet, I feel like it’s even. But if I actually look at it, it’s not like that. The right is actually significantly stronger than the left. So it’s just making sure that I’m doing honest testing and looking for results in the most critical or harsh way, so I know that it’s true, and I know that I’ve reached the point that I need to be out there and compete and be myself.”
Never doubt the heart of a champion, and Lillard showed that to the players and maybe even to himself.
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