Jusuf Nurkic, a centre for the Portland Trailblazers, fouled Deandre Ayton with 1.2 seconds left in overtime, sending the Phoenix Sun’s centre to the foul line. Anfernee Simons’ powerful hook shot had just given the Blazers a two-point lead, but Ayton had a chance to force a second overtime. Damian Lillard approached Ayton at the free throw line and asked him a straightforward question. Lillard finished the game with 41 points.
Have you ever been in this scenario before, I simply asked him. I wanted him to give it a little thought,” Lillard said following the game. “And then I felt like he was thinking about it when he ignored me.”
Damian Lillard on what he said to Deandre Ayton at the foul line at the end: “I just asked him, ‘have you ever been in this situation before?’ I wanted him to think about it a little bit. And then when he ignored me, I felt like he was thinking about it.”
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) October 22, 2022
Ayton missed his second try at the line, handing the Suns their first loss of the year after converting 80% of his free throws in crucial situations the previous campaign. After the game, Devin Booker (33 points on 11 of 23 shooting) dismissed Ayton’s miss.
The NBA, he declared. There will be nights like that because those guys are professionals and they are also striving to win.
Portland is currently 2-0 to start the 2022–23 season after defeating the Suns. Lillard appears to be back to normal after battling ailments the whole previous year, while Simons, who scored 16 points on 5-of-17 shooting and signed a $100 million extension with the Blazers, appears to have advanced to the next stage of his career. Nurkic ended with 20 points and 17 rebounds despite having struggled with injuries for the most of his career.
In a popular clip from the Suns-Portland game, Damian Lillard discusses what he said to DeAndre Ayton. This article originally appeared on ClutchPoints.
