Just give Damian Lillard the Clutch Player of the Year award now.
He’s been the league’s most clutch player all season long and he now has a signature buzzer beater — his first as a Buck — a leaning 3-pointer in overtime to beat the Sacramento Kings.
DAME TIME IN MILWAUKEE ‼️ 🤯
— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2024
DAME LILLARD DRILLS THE PULL-UP 32-FOOT #TissotBuzzerBeater 🚨
BUCKS WIN 143-142 IN OT. #YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/BptPMrcjcI
The concerns about the Bucks’ defense that have lingered all season were evident as they struggled to get stops against the Kings. That game-long trend continued in overtime and the Kings were up four when Brook Lopez hit a 3-pointer with 11:5 seconds left to make it a one-point game. Sacramento got the ball into the hands of last season’s Clutch Player of the Year, De’Aaron Fox, and he was fouled and hit one of two.
That just set the stage for Dame Time. Coach Adrian Griffin called for a play where the ball would be inbounded to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who would quickly get the ball back to Lillard with Lopez setting a screen for him. However, when the Kings denied the entry to Antetokounmpo, Lillard inbounded to Lopez, got the ball back and used him as a screen to get a head of steam heading up the court.
“Two guys ran to Giannis and as soon as I looked up Brook was already running toward me and I knew that was what the play was going to get to eventually...” Lillard said, via the Associated Press. “I just changed direction and got into space where I could get a good look at the rim. It was a pretty comfortable shot. These are the kinds of game that you don’t want to let them slip. It’s a quality win against a good team.”
Lillard finished the game with 29 points and eight assists, while Antetokounmpo had a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Malik Beasley finished with 23 points, and Bobby Portis added 22 with 10 rebounds. Fox led the Kings with 32 and Malik Monk scored 28 off the bench.
