If you don't love Damian Lillard yet, you might want to consider jumping on the bandwagon before it's full.
The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year improved his stock exponentially and secured himself into Portland folklore forever after drilling a game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left on the clock to beat the Rockets in Game 6 of the NBA Playoffs' first round Friday night.
The 99-98 win concluded Portland's first series win in the NBA Playoffs in 14 years.
But to fully appreciate the gravity of the moment, you must understand how it was setup.
The Rockets had — what they thought would be — the last possession of a tie ball game. After a missed game-winning attempt by James Harden, Chandler Parsons got hold of this rebound to put in a quick reverse layup to take a 98-96 lead with just 0.9 seconds left on the clock:
Surely you can't get anything up besides a last-second prayer tip-in, can you?
Lillard thought otherwise.
The Blazers guard curls around this screen and releases the ball so fast it will make your head spin. Well, Dwight Howard's especially…
Here's a front row view of the epic shot:
And priceless Rockets fans reaction:
Damian Lillard — Portland's new mayor and mancrush everywhere.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. @JHelmuth – "Like" on Facebook.
