The NBA has seen some of the greatest single game performances in sports history. While there have been countless incredible scoring outbursts, we often question: Was the defense even trying? Obviously, NBA-caliber players are all solid defenders, but the great players still manage to score relentlessly over the course of a game. One example of this is Jalen Rose, a solid NBA star who will tragically always be known as the recipient of 81 points from the late Kobe Bryant. Most people know that basketball is a team sport, so most of the time, it is not one player’s fault when an opposing player erupts for a massive performance; however, I was still inspired to create the game: Was it their fault?
The first performance is Damian Lillard’s masterful 61 point game on Martin Luther King Jr. day. The Golden State Warriors could only watch as Dame scored bucket after bucket. Eric Paschall and Damion Lee had a -13.4 and -18 net rating, respectively. The team was outscored 13.4 points when Paschall played and 18 points when Lee was on the court. Time to find out: Was it their fault?
Disclaimer: Some baskets were omitted from the article.
Starting off the game, Alec Burks does his best to stay with Damian Lillard. Alas, Lillard hits a contested stepback in Burk’s face.
It wasn’t his fault.
We skip forward to around 33 seconds before halftime, D’Angelo Russell prepares to switch onto Lillard this possession…but the play’s already over. Lillard launches a 3-pt bomb from the logo. What could he have done?
After a scramble for a loose ball, the defense breaks down. Lillard relocates, pauses for a second and drills a three in front of Russell, Paschall, and the entire Warriors bench. Soul-crushing. It wasn’t their fault.
As Lillard heats up, the Warriors decide to double him before he crosses half court. Finally, someone else is going to have to sco- nevermind. He splits the defense and cruises to the rim.
I think that’s on the whole team. If you’re going to double at half court, you can’t allow that player to get all the way to the rim.
Lillard engages in a dribble hand off with Hassan Whiteside. Jordan Poole (#3) gets hung up by the screen while Marquese Chriss gives Lillard enough space to shoot the three. Normally, you can allow that much space, but with an elite shooter like Lillard that may have been too much space. That’s kind of on Chriss.
Lillard and Chriss meet again at the perimeter. Chriss has learned his lesson on Lillard’s pull up jumpshot. He gets a hand up and contests the jumpshot. It rims in and out but it still goes in. There was nothing he could have done. Lillard has been torching the Warriors the whole game and Chriss can only watch.
There must have been some sort of miscommunication with Willie Cauley-Stein and Alec Burks because by the time Lillard engages in the pick and roll, Cauley-Stein is out of position. This gives Portland another easy possession. D’Angelo Russell probably should have rotated to the paint as well. All in all, we have another play where it is the defense’s fault.
With the Trailblazers down by three with 20 seconds to go, Warriors guard Alec Burks has a chance of redemption. After losing a previous encounter with Lillard earlier in the game, Burks has a chance to end the game on this possession. Lillard goes behind the back, dancing left and right, but Burks does a good job of countering Lillard. Burks knows they need a three pointer to win. Burks shuts off angles to the rim knowing a stepback is imminent. Finally, Lillard decides to stepback and fade with Burks right in his face and... it goes in. This brief exchange yet again goes to Lillard. After the basketball goes into the hoop, Burks can only watch. He played great defense, but Lillard executed better offense.
After the devastating jumpshot by Lillard goes in, the game goes to overtime. We find the Blazers yet again down by three points with Alec Burks guarding Lillard once again. This time, Hassan Whiteside comes in for the pick and roll. Lillard accelerates through the pick and decelerates so quickly, both Cauley-Stein and his teammate Whiteside are stunned for a second. Looks like Whiteside also affected the shot more than Cauley-Stein as Lillard looks for a foul thinking Burks may have fouled him. Lillard, with the game on the line gets fouled by his own teammate and makes the clutch jump shot. At this point we can conclude it wasn’t their fault.
The phrase, “Witness Greatness” often comes to mind when watching the NBA. As seen previously, you can execute good to great defense and still get burned. Damion Lee and Eric Paschall both had terrible advanced numbers due to the fact they existed on the court at the same time as Damian Lillard. Most people would agree numbers without context mean very little. Hopefully, we can appreciate Lillard’s greatness whilst understanding that no one person was at fault for allowing him to demolish the Warriors. As cheesy as it sounds, we can blame one person: Damian Lillard.