Damian Lillard knew what he had to do for the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo was unavailable due to a calf injury which meant that it was up to Dame to lead the charge against a Toronto Raptors side that blew out the Bucks in their previous meeting earlier in the season.
Lillard wasted no time making his mark on the game as he made sure that it was Milwaukee who was going to come out of the rematch on top.
Damian Lillard Details Marvelous Performance for Milwaukee Bucks
Shortly after the final buzzer, Lillard treated all of us with an in-depth look at what goes through the mind of an All-NBA point guard during these types of situations. Dame broke down his plan of attack against Toronto — one that worked to perfection as the 33-year-old dropped a 39-point, 13-assist double-double in Milwaukee’s 128-112 victory:
“My pace was up from the beginning, so I was coming off screens hard and I was just making the bigs have to really cut me off,” Lillard said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I wasn’t just accepting them coming out at the level. I was trying to turn the corner, and I think once they saw how hard I was coming off to turn the corner, they started to jump out there to try to anticipate me coming out, and I was able to to split them because they were anticipating that. And that’s usually how you set up a split is by coming off and making them honor you turning the corner and then you set them up. Boom, boom, and you get between the defense.
“You just see where the help is coming from,” Lillard said. “And at that point, it’s what you see a lot of times in this league when the ball gets to the middle of the defense. Somebody has to step up and then somebody has to help the person stepping up and somebody is wide open. It’s just a matter of getting the ball there on time and on target and allowing guys to do what they need to do.”
Dame makes it sound so simple — and he made it look like that as well all game long. This is a testament to the hard work Lillard puts in behind the scenes. After all, you don’t get to the level he is in at the moment without the blood, sweat, and tears.
There’s going to be much more of that for Dame this season as he continues to adapt his game around Giannis and the rest of the Bucks. It won’t be easy, but the ultimate reward is going to be all worth it.
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