Damian Lillard ended all hopes of a 7 game series between his Portland Trail Blazers and Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Since the team seedings became finalized, NBA fans around the world drooled at the prospect of seeing two of the league’s most talented point guards go head to head on the court. Dame has been my favorite basketball player since he was selected 6th overall in the 2012 NBA draft. This means that any opinion I give in regards to ranking current point guards, will be viewed as biased (which I guess in reality is true). Over the years, I’ve lost countless arguments and debates but last night, Dame made me look like the genius I am.

In Game 1, Russ did what he normally does: fill up the stat sheet. He notched his familiar triple-double while adding 24 points on 17 attempts which isn’t bad at all. In the same game, Dame’s 30 points weren’t more important than Russ’ 24 because Dame received a little more help from his teammates.

Game 2 wasn’t even close. While the star of the game may have been CJ Mccollum (Blazers shooting guard), Damian Lillard danced circles around Russ. After giving Russ 29 points on 50% shooting (combined with the fact that Russ only scored 14 himself on 25% shooting), the Thunder coaches decided they weren’t going to let Russ guard Dame for the rest of the series.

Game 3 was a bit different with the Thunder getting their only win of the series. Russ played to the best of his abilities, notching another triple double and scoring 33 points to Dame’s 32. I think the late game heroics of Russ and his teammate, Paul George, is what propelled this team to their win. However, the Thunder made a HUGE mistake in taunting Dame after their single game victory. Dennis Schroeder (backup point guard for Thunder) mocked Damian Lillard’s trademark celebration by pointing to his wrist. Paul George slamming home a reverse dunk as time expired showed bad sportsmanship and violated an unwritten rule amongst basketball players. Dame and his team left the court quietly and gracefully as the Thunder celebrated as if they had won the series. On the contrary, they signed their death warrants (relax, I only mean in the figurative sense).

In Game 4, Batman reunited with Robin as Dame and CJ combined for 51 points. Although, this was a huge key in the victory, it was hardly the topic of discussion the next day. Everyone was talking about the disappearance of Russ. Only scoring 14 points while still hoisting up 21 shot attempts in the process. You don’t have to be a basketball guru to know that that’s not a very efficient night for a point guard. On top of the low shooting percentage, it was the shot selection that really hindered his team. A third of Russ’ shots came from behind the arc, which has been criticized as one of the weaker (if not weakest) parts of his game.

The day after game 4, Yahoo Sports was invited to Damian Lillard’s house as he and some of his teammates had dinner and watch the other playoff games together. He had a plate full of fried catfish, red beans and rice and steamed broccoli. Dame sat there quietly before uttering, “I’m getting rid of these motherfu***** tomorrow.” On a personal note, this sent chills through my veins because this guy is a cold blooded assassin (again, not speaking literally).  But getting rid of them is exactly what he did, as he scored 50 points and hit the game winning 35 foot shot to end the 2019 campaign for the Thunder. Through all the antics and taunting, Dame simply waved towards the Thunder bench goodbye as his own teammates swarmed him in celebration. Job well done, Damian.

photo belongs to slate.com