Milwaukee Bucks‘ star point guard and former franchise player of the Portland Trail Blazers Damian Lillard could not ask for a better NBA All-Star Weekend than the 2024 edition in in Indianapolis, Indiana. Not only did the 33-year-old Damin Lillard secure his second consecutive win at the Three-Point Contest on last Saturday, Dame D.O.L.L.A also went on to start in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his career. This inaugural appearance for the East saw Damin Lillard leading the team to a 211-186 victory as he finished the game with a tremendous performance of 39 points, three rebounds and six assists less than half hour of playing time.
Damian Lillard Won His Second Consecutive Three-Point Contest with 26 Points
Damian Lillard was the defending Three-Point Contest champion prior to the 2024 edition, and the competition was fierce right from the beginning, as the top four contestants, including Damian Lillard, Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks, Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Tyrese Haliburton from the Indiana Pacers all finished with 26 points after the first round of shooting. These four players were given a tie-breaker to decide the eventual participants in the final round of the 2024 Three-Point Contest, and Haliburton fell short with only 12 points.
In the final round, both Young and Towns delivered 24 points each, and Damian Lillard was the last shooter to complete the finale. The 33-year-old star point guard hit 24 points before he even reached the final rack, and gave the crowd something to be nervous of after missing the first four balls of his final rack. Damian Lillard went on to win his second straight title in the Three-Point Contest by nailing the money ball of the last rack.
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Damian Lillard Won MVP with 39 Points (11 Threes), Three Rebounds and Six Assists
The 2024 NBA All-Star Game marked the return of the East vs. West and the separate scoring quarters formats that were traditionally seen in the history of the competition, and the East were dominant throughout all four quarters of play, scoring more than 50 points in each of the 12-minute quarter and beating the all-time scoring record for a team in the ASG history. For Damian Lillard, it was his first appearance for the East since leaving the team that drafted him sixth overall back in the 2012 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the 33-year-old point guard went on to start in the NBA All-Star Game for the very first time as well.
On his way to winning the 2024 NBA All-Star Game MVP, Damian Lillard notched 39 points on top of a 14-26 shooting. Over these 14 made field goals, 11 of them came beyond the arc with a couple of shots nailed from the half-court line, making his arguably the best player on the court for the winning East side, who emerged victorious against the West via a 25-point victory.
If you want to have a review of the full rosters (Starters and reserves) for both the Eastern and the Western Conferences in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, click here to check out the detailed article that we have prepared for you!
Damian Lillard Booed by Fans for Winning the ASG MVP
With his 2024 NBA All-Star Game MVP accolade and successful defence at the Three-Point Contest, Damian Lillard became just the second player in NBA history to win All-Star MVP and an All-Star Saturday night event, with the other being the GOAT Michael Jordan, doing so in the 1988 All-Star Weekend. Furthermore, Lillard is the only player to bag the All-Star Game MVP as well as the Three-Point Contest trophy in the same NBA All-Star Weekend.
In regard to his historical achievements, the 33-year-old point guy was ecstatic and had this to say during the post-match conference: “Any time you’re mentioned in the same category as Mike, it’s an honor, and it’s a major accomplishment, even if it’s All-Star Weekend. If it was that simple, more people would have done it since 1988. So that’s a major compliment for me to be mentioned in the same conversation as far as that.”
Despite his monumental performance on his way to winning the NBA All-Star Game MVP honour, Damian Lillard was booed by the home fans, who were mostly from the Indiana Pacers camp, as they thought their very own guard Haliburton should have won the individual title instead (32 points, seven rebounds and six assists). “I was just going to keep shooting until I missed. Having fun playing basketball. I didn’t know how many minutes I was going to play, didn’t know how my leg would feel. I felt good today, even after the one-leg dunk. So that’s positive for me,” said Haliburton over his showing in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.
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The crowd in Indy boo’d Damian Lillard after he won All-Star MVP 😬 pic.twitter.com/Tw9xEt8jOp
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 19, 2024
Karl-Anthony Towns Bagged 50 Points for the Losing West
The West may have lost the 2024 NBA All-Star Game by a substantial margin of 25 points, fans of the Western Conference can be proud with Karl-Anthony Towns’ performance, who finished the game with a game-high 50 points, coupled with eight rebounds and three assists. KAT’s incredible showing in just 28 minutes put him among the ranks of players with most points in an All-Star Game, which is five points shy from the record set by Jayson Tatum from the Boston Celtics last year.
KAT’s 50-point game could have led him to the All-Star Game MVP race, had his West side won the game; It is also worth mentioning that KAT lost to Damian Lillard for the MVP honour, the shooter who also beat him in the final round of the 2024 Three-Point Contest.
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