Damian Lillard should thank Nets for embarrassing Clippers after Blazers’ choke job

Blazers PG Damian Lillard should be thanking the Nets for beating the Clippers.

Basketball fans were treated their first petty war inside the NBA bubble after the Portland Trail Blazers choked away what was shaping up to be a huge win over the Los Angeles Clippers this past weekend.

In shocking fashion, it was Damian Lillard who succumbed to the troll jobs of Patrick Beverley and Paul George and missed two go-ahead free throws in the closing seconds.

After coming up clutch dozens of times throughout his career, the Blazers point guard was clearly bothered by his blunder and took to the postgame presser to remind Beverly and George of when he sent their former teams, the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, home with walk-of threes in the 2014 and 2019 playoffs.

What ensued was Lillard and George trading barbs on social media.

Ironically enough, the Brooklyn Nets came up extremely clutch for Lillard by embarrassing the Clippers in a monster upset on Sunday night.

Though Beverley and George didn’t play in this game, nobody on Los Angeles’ roster would be able to get away with talking an ounce of smack after getting humiliated by the depleted Nets. The beef between Lillard and the Clippers stars will undoubtedly continue down the road, but Brooklyn’s surprise dub over the undisputed championship favorites will temper tensions for the time being.

To be fair to Dame, he backed up his choke job and brash postgame tactics with a ridiculous performance against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. In a 124-121 win that virtually clinched Portland a spot in the play-in tournament for the No. 8 seed in the West, Lillard poured in 51 points and 7 assists on 16-of-28 shooting.

Lillard obviously deserves props for performing a healthy dose of damage control with his fifth 50-point game of the season, but he should give Brooklyn some credit for fending off the Clippers less than 24 hours after he faltered at the foul line.