Damian Lillard nailed a buzzer-beating three near the half-court logo to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder and to send the Portland Trail Blazers to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
Game 5 was tied 115-115 with just over 10 seconds remaining when Lillard brought the ball across half-court. Instead of running a play or driving to the basket, Lillard settled for a very deep three, and drilled it in classic cold-blooded Dame fashion to give Portland a 118-115 victory. The series-clinching shot also gave Lillard 50 points on the night.
Here’s the shot — and pandemonium that followed — with Kevin Calabro (play-by-play) and Lamar Hurd (color commentator) on the call for Portland’s broadcast on NBC Sports Northwest:
This is the stuff movies are made of! Damian Lillard sends the Blazers into the second round pic.twitter.com/KLUXVa4iBG
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) April 24, 2019
And here’s the national television call on TNT from play-by-play man Brian Anderson:
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1120917521475915781
Both are excellent calls that captured the incredible moment beautifully.
Lillard and the Blazers will take on the winner of the Nuggets-Spurs series (Nuggets lead 3-2) in the second round.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.