Damian Lillard drops 59 points to set Blazers record, push Portland closer to playoffs

Damian Lillard scored 59 points to set a Portland Trail Blazers record Saturday night in a 101-86 win over the Utah Jazz.

Lillard delivered a huge night for the Trail Blazers, who are fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. He surpassed Damon Stoudemire's record of 54, set in the 2004-05 season, with the third 50-point game of his career despite not scoring in the second quarter. (He outscored the Jazz 26-20 in the first.) It was Lillard's 27th game with 30 or more points this season, also a franchise high.

He could've topped 60 if he hadn't missed two free throws in the final seconds. Lillard blamed teammate Noah Vonleh for telling him how many he had.

"When I missed the second one and everybody was like, `Ohhh,' I was like, `What happened?' Then I made the last one and looked up and I had 59," Lillard told reporters. "And I was like — it's Noah's fault."

Lillard hit 18 of 34 shots, including 9 of 14 threes, with six rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers. No other Blazer had more than 12 points.

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The win avenged a 106-87 loss earlier this week and kept the Blazers a game and a half ahead of the Denver Nuggets for the eighth playoff spot with just two games left, at home against San Antonio on Monday and the Pelicans on Wednesday.

The Jazz, meanwhile, are battling the Los Angeles Clippers for the fourth spot and home-court advantage. Utah visits the Warriors on Monday before closing out the regular season at home on Wednesday against the Spurs.

Lillard also showed a lot of class after his career game.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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