More than any player in the NBA, Damian Lillard is Stephen Curry Lite. On Friday, playing against Curry, Lillard clearly surpassed him, at least for an evening. The Blazers point guard scored 51 points on 18-of-28 shooting, nailing nine three-pointers and throwing in seven assists and six steals for good measure as Portland stomped Golden State, 137-105. Lillard starting shooting heat checks, and when they went in, he started heat checking his heat checks.
This was his final made shot of the evening (although free throws would push him over the 50-point plateau).
That's, what, 35 feet from the basket? Here was Lillard earlier in the game, already showing signs of igniting.
He was doing it in Curry's face, too. This shot ended the first quarter.
I mean, come on, this around the back dribble and high layup off glass looks exactly like Steph, doesn't it?
Curry's the reigning MVP while Lillard didn't even make the All-Star team, so clearly they're not at the same caliber, even if Lillard ascended to Steph's place on Friday. But come on, don't think for a second that the All-Star Game snub didn't motivate him to go and show up the NBA's best player who he's constantly compared to. He practically said it.