There’s no denying that Damian Lillard emerged as the biggest hero from Sunday’s wild showdown between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Sacramento Kings. After all, it’s not every day that you get to see a 32-foot game-winner to beat the overtime buzzer. That’s exactly what Dame did on Sunday to take down the Kings, 143-142, and it comes as no surprise that he’s grabbed all sorts of headlines because of the same.
Lillard himself, however, revealed after the win that his buzzer-beater wasn’t actually the biggest shot of the evening.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Reveals ‘Biggest Shot of the Night’
According to Dame, that honor belongs to Milwaukee center Brook Lopez and his clutch triple in the dying seconds of overtime. With the Bucks trailing by four points with less than 20 seconds remaining, Lopez took an outlet pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo to drain a crucial triple for his team:
Brook Lopez makes it a 1-point game with 11.5 remaining 🎯
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 15, 2024
That’s cold. The fact that Lopez even checked if he was standing behind the 3-point line before jumping off his feet makes the shot even more epic.
Lillard was quick to point out that had it not been for Lopez’s heroics, Dame would not have had the chance to get off his game-winner in the first place:
“I think that was really the biggest shot of the night because without that one, it was a four-point game at that point,” Lillard said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He cut it to one and he put them in position to where they had to make free throws, and it opened up the opportunity for me. So, it’s like the hockey assist or whatever. It’s that type of situation. I mean, without that, I don’t have an opportunity to make my shot.”
Lillard hit the nail on the head here. Nevertheless, it still comes as no surprise that everyone’s celebrating Lillard’s game-winner over Lopez’s key triple. I would think that even Brook himself would gladly shine the spotlight on his superstar teammate.
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