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Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul exchanged words after Paul scored a basket with the clock running out and the game in hand 119-112. Paul and the Rockets could’ve dribbled out the last 15 seconds on the game clock, but Paul cut to the hoop and tacked on two more points for good measure. What was a seven-point win became a nine-point win, and Lillard made sure to find Paul after the layup:
It appears Dame wasn't a fan of CP3's late layup pic.twitter.com/RJr9x1a5dr
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 11, 2018
This sort of thing has happened in recent memory for the Blazers. Nicolas Batum earned a triple-double on a buzzer-beater when Portland already had the win in hand against the San Antonio Spurs. And Lillard himself did the same thing his rookie year against the Chicago Bulls.
In terms of Wednesday night’s game, the incident became a focal point of post-game questions.
Paul on why he scored:
Lillard said he asked Chris Paul was he got out of scoring late. His response: “Y’all wasn’t guarding.”
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 11, 2018
Head coach Terry Stotts on Paul’s layup:
Terry Stotts on Chris Paul scoring with 13 seconds left and Rockets up 7: “He can do whatever he wants.” Did say most players adhere to unwritten rule to not attempt shot in that situation.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
More Stotts on CP3 scoring late: “Most situations guys don’t do that. There is some etiquette. But I’ve always said we have bigger things to worry about than if a guy does something like that or not.”
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
Lillard on the exchange of words:
Lillard on confronting CP3 at end of game after Paul scored with 12.8 seconds left: "First of all, we lost the game fair and square. It wasn’t a play that impacted us winning or losing, so I wasn’t salty about that." (1/2)
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
Lillard on CP3 (continued): "They won the game, they did more things than we did … but as far as sportsmanship goes, and you know, respect … if the roles were reversed, I don’t think they would like it." (2/2)
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
And CJ McCollum on what he’d do differently:
McCollum said he should have fouled him, which is what I'm guessing will happen if/when there's a next time. https://t.co/2aNLtJ8ty2
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 11, 2018
Big deal, little deal, no deal? Let us know in the comments.