PORTLAND, Ore. — One year ago today, all of Portland got lost in Dame Time.
It was Game 5 of the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Blazers led the series 3-1 over Oklahoma City, who was considered the favorite before the series began. Portland had fought back from down 15 points in the fourth quarter to tie Game 5 at 115. Damian Lillard, with 47 points, brought the ball up the court and Rip City waited. There was no doubt what time it was. The only question was, what would it look like?
Lillard, who had already made nine 3-pointers in the game, stood near mid-court as the clock ticked down. With two seconds left the Blazers’ All-Star pulled up from 37 feet, a 3-pointer his defender Paul George would later call a “bad shot,” and let it fly. Rip City held its collective breath before erupting with excitement, and perhaps for some truly honest fans, disbelief, as the ball fell through the net and the buzzer sounded. Game over. Blazers win 118-115.
It was pandemonium in the Moda Center. Blazers TV analyst Lamar Hurd captured it best on the broadcast when he hysterically shouted “OHHHHH!!!!”
As if the shot wasn’t glorious enough, Lillard’s reaction to it made the moment an instant classic. As the ball goes through the net, Lillard begins walking away from the hoop and waving goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder players. That wave was symbolic in that it was not only the end of the rival Thunder’s season, it was the end of the decade-long Russell Westbrook era in Oklahoma City. The Thunder would go on to trade its two best players, Westbrook and George, in the offseason.
Lillard’s teammates and family then began mobbing him on the court. And as if the shot and the wave were not spectacular enough, Lillard provided the meme of the century for Rip City. With his teammates piling on top him, Lillard looked directly into the TV camera and nodded as if this wasn't anything new.
Of course, it wasn’t for Lillard. Five years earlier, in 2014, he hit a series-ending 3-pointer to beat the Houston Rockets. There have only been six game-winning series-clinching buzzer-beater shots in NBA history. And Lillard has two of them. Only one other player has made two of those shots before: Michael Jordan.
While Lillard played the moment with supreme confidence, the rest of Rip City was not so calm and cool. Fans were jubilantly yelling as they left the Moda Center, still trying to put into words what they just saw. Others screamed uncontrollably at bars and homes across this city.
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At KGW, we were preparing for a 10 p.m. newscast when Lillard’s shot went in seconds before going live. Because they were in the studio, Laural Porter and Dan Haggerty could not see the end of the game but their reactions to when they’re told the Blazers won was priceless.
It was a shot that had the city talking for days. It was one of the greatest shots in Portland Trail Blazers and NBA history. It also was the beginning of Portland’s first run to the Western Conference Finals since 2000.
With the coronavirus pandemic, we don’t have sports to fill that entertainment void. But today, it’s worth going back and enjoying the game Lillard called the best of his career, and wondering what will be next when Dame Time returns.
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