Damian Lillard, Nikola Jokic have historic two-game stretch to begin series originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest
Game 2 between the Blazers and Nuggets didn’t go the way as expected for Portland, losing 128-109.
The game featured historical performances from both of the stars of the series in Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard.
Lillard finished the night with 42 points, 10 assists, and nine three-pointers.
He joined LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Russell Westbrook as the only players in league history with multiple 40-point, 10-assist postseason games.
Lillard also became the first player in playoff history to record at least 40 points, 10 assists, and five three-pointers in the first two games of a series.
Last night was Lillard’s third career 40-point playoff game, and first coming in a loss.
In Game 1, Lillard recorded 13 assists, the most by a Blazer in a postseason game since Damon Stoudamire had the same amount in 1999 vs. Phoenix.
As for Jokic, he became the third Nugget with at least 10 career 30-point playoff games, joining Alex English (18) and the last man to wear No. 15 in Denver, Carmelo Anthony (12).
In the process, Jokic became the seventh postseason player since 2010 with a 35-point game on at least 75% shooting — Anthony Davis ‘20, Giannis Antetokounmpo ‘20, LaMarcus Aldridge ‘16, Blake Griffin ‘14, Kevin Durant ‘13, and Dirk Nowitzki ‘11 and ‘10.
Jokic also had scored at least 30 points in consecutive playoff games for the first time in his career.
Of all the Nuggets to have a 30-point streak for a maximum of two games, Jokic (36.0) is averaging the most since Anthony (37.0) in 2010.
Both Jokic and Lillard are living up to their billing as superstars, and have also shown they can only do so much for their respective teams.