All this time later, Damian Lillard is still haunting the Oklahoma City Thunder. At least, in the regular season. The 36-year-old had a throwback night as arguably the greatest player ever for the Portland Trail Blazers is enjoying a Disney-esque ending to his legendary career.
The Thunder were ran out of the gym in a 123-103 loss to the Trail Blazers. Lillard completely took over in the third quarter. As he calmly brought the ball up in the final seconds of the frame, he drilled a patented near-midcourt logo as several OKC defenders contested it.
Lillard finished with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, three assists and three rebounds. He shot 4-of-10 from 3 and went 5-of-5 on free throws. Coming off a torn Achilles tendon, he's seamlessly filled
the role as Portland's second-best player behind Deni Avdija.
Lillard is living out Russell Westbrook's NBA fantasy. He's returned for a second stint with the Trail Blazers. Even in the twilight stage of his career, he can still have signature scoring runs. He kept going at Jared McCain in the third quarter as he turned it into a lopsided score.
Here's what the Thunder had to say about Lillard and his return to playing. As Northwest Division rivals, they'll play each other four times in the 2026-27 regular season. He missed all of last season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Now, he's helping mentor the Trail Blazers:
Mark Daigneault
"Congrats to him for being back on the court. Those long rehabs are difficult. He hasn't lost a step. He's come back looking great. He was obviously great in the third. That certainly changed the game when he rattled those off. It opened the spread up for them. He's a great player. You just got to stay on it for 48 minutes with guys like him. He got the best of us in the third quarter, for sure."
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
"Obviously, as decorated as they come. Really good player. Having guys like that out there is always great for the game. He's one of the best shooters to ever touch a basketball. That doesn't leave you. He's a big reason why they out-stretched us in the third tonight. If we want to come out with a W, we have to do a better job."
Jared McCain
"He's one of the greatest shooters of all time. Being able to lock on to him defensively and making sure to know what the plan is against him. He's obviously a great player. I've watched him since I was younger, too. So pretty cool to play against him."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: OKC Thunder react to Damian Lillard's return with Trail Blazers
