On the night Damian Lillard signals his return, he allows protege Anfernee Simons to secure Trail Blazers victory

Damian Lillard was dealing and the Phoenix Suns were for the most part helpless to stop him during the Portland Trail Blazers’ 113-111 overtime victory Friday night at the Moda Center.

Lillard, who played just 29 mostly subpar games last season because of injury, resurrected his old bag of tricks while scoring 41 points against the Suns.

Pull-up threes. Spinning step-backs. Floating fade-aways. Unconscious deep shots that make youth basketball coaches cringe.

Lillard, for the most part, had it going on. But in overtime, after Lillard had missed a potential game-winner at the end of regulation, the six-time All-Star passed on taking the final shot with the game tied at 111-111.

Lillard brought the ball up court following a Devin Booker miss and passed off to Anfernee Simons on the left. Lillard’s new backcourt mate after nearly seven seasons running with CJ McCollum, found himself in a relatively unfamiliar position.

A game that mattered was on the line and he had the ball in his hands.

It was the kind of moment Lillard said he had talked to Simons about before the season while urging him to remain confident and focused.

The 6-foot-3 Simons, with good friend, 6-6 Mikal Bridges defending him, dribbled between his legs three times as he moved forward and then burst toward the right side of the key, elevated and swished a running baby hook to give Portland the lead.

The Blazers held on to win after Deandre Ayton missed two free throws, creating a moment between Lillard and his protege that both hope becomes more common as the franchise looks for players to ease some of the burden off of Lillard’s shoulders.

“That’s the way it’s got to be,” Lillard said. “There has to be balance. It has to come from different angles. If people know it’s going to be me every time, it makes it easier to guard me. And they’re able to lean on the fact that we’re not showing that we truly trust each other. So, I think it was a moment to do that. I chose to do that. And he came through and made me look good, I guess.”

There was a lot to unpack between these two in this game. But let’s start with Lillard.

Lillard told the world for months that he feels great physically and mentally after taking the second half of last season off following core muscle surgery. Simply feeling better made all the difference.

“I felt like that was the breakthrough moment for me,” he said.

But he still needed to show in a game that he was all the way back.

“It was just a matter of time of when it was going to happen,” Lillard said.

On Wednesday at Sacramento, Lillard went 5 of 18 from the field for 20 points during a 115-108 victory. Not a big deal. Shooters have off nights. But he needed to see his physical health translate into great play.

It was clear early on against the Suns that Friday would be that night.

Lillard played a mesmerizing first half, sinking 8 of 12 shots for 28 points. However, his teammates combined to make just 6 of 22 shots and the Blazers trailed 53-47 at halftime. Sharing in the team’s shooting misery was Simons, who went 1 of 7 from the field for three points.

Phoenix was on him. They saw what he did last January and February when he played like a potential future Lillard. And they no doubt saw him score 22 against the Kings.

So, the Suns went after Simons, who credited them for doing a job trapping him during pick-and-rolls.

“That kind of messed me up,” he said. “It was hard to get into a good rhythm. I had a couple of shots where I had to shoot last second. So, I was just trying to calm myself down and have a better second half.”

Blazers coach Chancey Billups said Simons had to react better to pressure.

“He got caught in a couple of bad spots on the floor,” Billups said.

Simons had to come through because Lillard’s scoring slowed down in the second half. He scored five points in the third quarter, six in the fourth and just two in overtime.

Lillard said he encouraged Simons through his early struggles, knowing that the 2018 first-round pick would be needed at some point.

“You still have to look at yourself and know that, I’ve got to find those moments,” Lillard said, referring to Simons. “I still got to be able to come up big regardless of what else happened for the rest of the game.”

Given Lillard’s big first half, Phoenix began paying extra attention to him in the second half. At the end of regulation, he drew two defenders while taking a potential game-winner that went off the front rim, leaving the game tied.

So, in overtime, after once again seeing Phoenix come at him with two defenders, Lillard passed off to Simons. But he did so thinking he might get the ball back.

“For a split second, I was like, ‘I’m going to wait for a little bit and then I’m going to flash back to the ball,’” Lillard said.

But he stopped himself and waited to see what Simons did.

“He gave me the ball and had trust in me to go make a play,” Simons said.

He did and the Blazers won, with Simons scoring 16 points.

“I think it’s going to be big for him to see that I’m willing to trust him in those moments,” Lillard said.

It was Simons’ biggest shot of his career. He recalled a big three he hit during his second season at home against Philadelphia on Nov. 2, 2019. The basket gave the Blazers a 128-126 lead with 2.6 seconds to go. But Philadelphia’s Furkan Korkmaz sank a three with 0.4 seconds left to give the 76ers a 129-128 win.

“We ended up losing on that three, so that doesn’t count,” Simons said with a laugh.

As for that hook shot, Simons has grown to love it.

“It’s a pretty hard shot to block,” Simons said. “I find success doing it. I haven’t had one blocked yet.”

Simons said he works on the running hook often. He will spend 30 minutes playing around with shots and will mix in hooks. He found that sinking them came naturally.

“I found a good touch in doing it, so I just started doing it in the game,” Simons said.

Lillard has seen Simons’ hook in action plenty of times.

“That’s our warm-up drill stuff,” Lillard said. “And I told him that when he went into it, it looked like a rep.”

The shot selection caught Lillard off guard a bit.

“I was just surprised that he went to it,” Lillard said. “But he did it in practice the other day before the regular season started. That’s turning into one of his go-tos.”

Although he can do it, too, Lillard might not make it one of his regular shots.

“He’s more athletic than I am,” Lillard said. “So, once he gets to that launching pad, he gets it up higher than I do. But mine is pretty good. I say going the other way, mine is better, with the left hand.”

It was just one night, but it featured two important moments. Simons showed that he could fill CJ McCollum’s shoes in a big moment. And more important, Lillard showed that he is still capable of carrying a team.

“I think there is something there when you actually have one of those games,” Lillard said. “It’s like, ‘OK, I found my place. I found my footing and I found a good space to be in.’”

-- Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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