Damian Lillard Set A Blazers Scoring Record After Inspiration From A Courtside Heckler

At halftime on Thursday evening, the Portland Trail Blazers were in a strong position, leading the Orlando Magic on the road by a 10-point margin. However, star guard Damian Lillard struggled to some degree in the first half, converting only two of his eight field goal attempts on the way to seven points.

Then, Lillard got it going in a big way in the third quarter and never let up over the 19 minutes and 18 seconds that he spent on the floor in the second half.

When the dust settled, Lillard’s performance was the stuff of legend, as the All-NBA guard erupted for 34 points on 11 of 15 shooting (with 5-of-8 from three) to go along with four rebounds and three assists in the half. That scoring binge was enough to put Lillard in the record books, as he broke Portland’s franchise record for scoring in a half.

Lillard is, of course, fully capable of an explosion like this on a semi-regular basis, simply because he is one of the best perimeter players in the NBA. With that said, the veteran was apparently inspired by a courtside heckler and he shared that experience in detail after the final buzzer sounded.

It is almost always a terrible idea to prod one of the game’s best players and, on this night, a fan in Orlando certainly found that out in decisive fashion. On one hand, Lillard might have performed at an elite level anyway but, as he noted repeatedly, there was a bit of extra motivation in play here and the Magic might want to consider locating this fan and giving him a stern lecture about the importance of, well, not angering top-shelf players for the opposition.