The Last Word

Waves bye bye. And with that Russ goes quiet and NBA fans outside of Oklahoma City rejoice. Damian Lillard dropped a 37 footer to end OKC’s season and send the Portland Trailblazers to the next round.

Lillard scored 34 of his 50 in the first half, playing the first 36 minutes of the game before finally taking a break to begin the fourth quarter. Without him on the floor, the Thunder outscored the Blazers 10-2, and eventually led by 15.

With Lillard on the floor, the Blazers couldn’t be stopped as they kept pace with the Thunder and eventually ran them down with one of the most iconic shots in NBA playoff history – the wave was just an added bonus, but it was ice cold.

“It was a great feeling when it left my hands,” Damian Lillard said about his 37-foot winning basket. “It felt good.” AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer

But this performance and this playoff series clincher at the buzzer was about more than just sending the Portland Trailblazers to the next round of the NBA playoffs, for Lillard it was about having the last word in a sea of trash talk.

Lillard’s curtain call took his point tally to 50 for the night, it tore the soul out of the Oklahoma City Thunder, it completed a rousing 13-point fourth-quarter comeback and it gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 118-115 Game 5 win and a comfortable 4-1 series victory.