Coming off a nail biter loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Damian Lillard responded with a 51 point outing against the Philadelphia 76ers. The clutch performance from the All-Star guard puts the Portland Trailblazers a half-game behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th seed in the Playoffs.
Lillard’s 51 points were aided by Carmelo Anthony’s strong 20 point game with C.J. McCollum chipping in 16 points. The Sixers were without All-Star Guard Ben Simmons who is set to undergo surgery for a knee injury he suffered last week. Joel Embiid left Sunday’s game in the first quarter suffering an ankle injury.
The Blazers win over the Sixers not only puts them a half-game behind the Grizzlies, but they also eliminated the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans from Playoff contention.
