Portland Trail Blazers: Top 10 player performances of 2017

10. Damian Lillard, March 15: 36 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 29.5 Game Score

This is the first of six entries on this list from the team’s 13-3 March. It was, by far, the team’s best month of the year. It had to be too; the Blazers wanted to make the playoffs, but were 11 games under .500 coming out of February.

Damian Lillard was one of the key players to take control of the situation and deliver. The floor general led the team to a 17-7 record following the All-Star break. He averaged 29.7 points and 6.0 assists per game in the process.

This instance came directly in the middle of this tear. The Blazers had the daunting road date against the San Antonio Spurs, then the second-best team in the Western Conference. It also came on the second night of a back-to-back. Portland suffered a 23-point loss to the New Orleans Pelicans the previous night.

However, neither Lillard nor the Blazers backed down from San Antonio, notching a 110-106 win on the road. Lillard went off for 26 points. He shot 12-for-22 from the field, 3-for-8 from 3-point range and made all nine of his free throws.

At this point, this was just another 30-point night for Lillard. However, considering the opponent, the venue and the game’s placement on the schedule, this night illustrated Lillard’s — and the team’s — resiliency.