Damian Lillard Makes An Exceptional Bucks Debut

For his teammates, at least, Damian Lillard’s historic Milwaukee Bucks debut may have been most unexpected after the game. Lillard was ready to leave as soon as the media doors to the locker room opened. She was wearing a raspberry-coloured sweatsuit. Giannis Antetokounmpo was stunned and couldn’t believe it, his body covered in ice. Bobby Portis could not either.

Damian Lillard Makes An Exceptional Bucks Debut

Thursday night proved to be “Dame Time,” as Lillard scored 39 points to help the Bucks defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 118-117. In the last 16 minutes, he scored 14 of the team’s points, dished out four assists and eight rebounds, and broke the franchise record for the most points in a debut.

Even though it was just one game, Lillard was just as successful in Horns sets during the previous season when he was a member of the Blazers. As of February 6, he was among the guards in the league who used that alignment the most, scoring 1.50 points per possession in that situation.

The Horns Rip DHO move, which was taken from the Nuggets and used when they ran out of timeouts in the preseason, is one Horns option that the Bucks will likely employ this season. This time, the Bucks adopted a strategy from Lillard’s Blazers and regularly hit the Sixers with a group of players known as High Horns.

Because the High Horns configuration makes use of Lillard’s quickness, shooting, and decision-making abilities, it makes him extremely dangerous.

Lillard has flexibility in choosing which direction to drive since screens are placed on both sides of his opponent. When questioned about why he was so effective with it, he told CHGO’s Will Gottlieb that setting the screens so high also provides him a ton of area to move downhill and scan the floor.

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“Really, [it’s] to give me space,” Lillard explained. “I want to use my speed against the bigs. Try to turn the corner, and also take those guys out of the paint from meeting me at the rim.”

A very insane three-pointer from around thirty feet to put the Bucks ahead by five at 1:13 was the high point of that scoring spree. Lillard veered to the left, passed behind him, crossed the road, and took a step back, just to grab net.

In addition, Lillard has the skill to just pull up from three points out of the formation; he has done it several times.

Because of how well he was scoring baskets, Lillard didn’t need to do as much seeing as the High Horns alignment allows him to notice the open pass more readily.

“A lot of times, I’m coming downhill from halfcourt. I can see the guy pulling all the way over in the corner, so I can see  where the play is,” Lillard told Gottlieb.

Antetokounmpo thought Lillard was “unbelievable.” That’s difficult to dispute, and the greatest news for supporters of the Bucks and the team is that they’ll be able to see it for at least another seven months.

 

 

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