Ranking the 15 best performances in the NBA this season

4. Damian Lillard lights up the Lakers (01/31/20)

By the time the Portland Trail Blazers arrived in Los Angeles for their Jan. 31 matchup with the Lakers, it was safe to say the season hadn’t gone to plan.

Injuries and poor offseason moves had the reigning Western Conference Finals participants swept up into the gauntlet of hopeful playoff participants, sitting 10th in the west and three games out.

Back-to-back wins in its previous two outings was a good way to mount a playoff push, but Portland would have to make sure to snowball it into something bigger to salvage the season, and the Lakers were no opponent to help aid that task.

Damian Lillard had dropped 50 and 36 in those wins against the Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets, respectively. Neither had the defensive prowess of LA on its home court, although it’s not like Lillard noticed the difference.

He scored 48 points, 23 of which came in a third-quarter where he also connected on 6-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc — seven total for the game — to turn a two-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead the Blazers rode to an eight-point W.

It was a classic offensive explosion from one of the game’s most dynamic scorers, but the game was merely a footnote across minds that were focused on much more pressing matters.

This was LA’s first game following the painful passing of Kobe Bryant, a horrifying tragedy that weighed on the hearts of the NBA world and fans across the globe.

There’s no way the Lakers were in the proper state of mind to play basketball on this night even after postponing their previous game against the Clippers. The same could likely apply to the Blazers as well.

Lillard’s performance wasn’t simply an aid to Portland’s postseason hopes. His ruthless long-range bombs were a perfect embodiment of the Mamba Mentality and took the minds of all those watching elsewhere for a much-needed distraction.