Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard takes issue with Paul George’s opinion on Lillard’s 37-foot buzzer-beater that sent Portland to the conference semifinals. Lillard fired back at George, not only defending his shot selection, but calling out George in the process. Lillard appeared on the Pull Up with CJ McCollum podcast, where he was asked about George calling the game-winning bucket a “bad shot.” “For him to say that’s a bad shot, I mean, that’s just kinda being a poor sport. If anything, it was bad defense. ’Cause I had the ball in my hands with two seconds [left] and I wasn’t going to drive, so maybe he should have just bodied up.” Lillard does make a good point. While George likely didn’t anticipate Lillard would pull up from 37-feet initially, he should have realized Lillard didn’t have a choice as the clock ticked down. Maybe that’s a lot to ask in the heat of the moment, but it’s a fair criticism of George’s defense on the play. Damian Lillard thinks Paul George should have played better defense on this shot. (Sean Meagher/The Oregonian via AP) At this point, it might be safer for George to just not respond to Lillard’s criticism. Whether it was a “good” or “bad” shot, it went in. Anything George says now will just look like sour grapes. If George really wanted to get Lillard back, his best option is to just wait until next season and hope he can get revenge on the Trail Blazers. It takes time to come back after losing like that. ——— Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik More from Yahoo Sports:<doc-sep>Damian Lillard chucked up a meme inspiring 37-footer, which went in, to bounce the Thunder from the first-round. Whether or not this was the greatest shot selection (although worth noting is that the game was tied and Portland was holding for that last possession of regulation) is immaterial at this point because, again, it went in: But after the game, OKC's Paul George, who was tasked with guarding Lillard at the time, said that the attempt was a "bad shot." That comment inspired many-a-social-media-commenter to call him some variation of a "hater" complete with baby emojis and some other stuff, but it's not like that's a totally ridiculous point of view. 37-foot is some NBA Jam shit: Regardless, Lillard responded to his vanquished foe on teammate C. J. McCollum's podcast by stating that George was "kind of being a poor sport" for his comments prior to calling out his D. "If anything, it was bad defense," the Blazers' All-Star said. "Because I had the ball in my hands with two seconds, and I wasn’t going to drive, so maybe he should’ve just bodied up." As for a transcript of his full comments, here is just that. In it, Lillard explains that this isn't just luck, it's something he's practiced many, many times: It was a good shot. I think a lot of people don’t know what goes into the moments. That’s because they’re not the ones that’s there. I literally work on those shots. And I don’t work on it so I can just come out and just shoot it for the whole game. I work on it just because, over my career, I know how much attention I’m going to get from defenses. So it’s just like you’re just keeping stuff, adding more things, adding more and more, keeping stuff in your pocket, in case these types of situations do present itself. Even if it’s not something you want to lean on, it’s something that you have there, that you worked on, you spent time doing. So, you’ve got confidence in it when the time does come. That’s why, when I was just standing there, I was like, well, it’s probably not good in a lot of people’s eyes. But I’m comfortable with this, and I’m confident in this. So, to me, it’s a solid shot. For him to say that’s a bad shot, that’s just kind of being a poor sport. If anything, it was bad defense, because I had the ball in my hands with two seconds, and I wasn’t going to drive, so maybe he should’ve just bodied up. Doesn't really matter now...either way that shot counts. As a result OKC is out (we might've already mentioned that) and Portland is on to face either Denver or San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals, which they last made it to in 2016 (they lost in five to the Warriors).<doc-sep>Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are waiting around to find out who they’ll play in the second round of the NBA playoffs. So there’s still time for them to bask in the glow of that glorious game-winner that Lillard hit Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Portland’s star guard broke down the shot during an appearance on the “Pull Up Podcast” on Thursday and explained why the shot wasn’t that hard for him. And he also took a fun shot at Paul George, who called the shot a bad shot after the game. Lillard thinks it was a great shot and that George should have tried a little harder to stop it: Dame is too cool.<doc-sep>Damian Lillard has no problem throwing some shade at Paul George after his 37-foot-game winner on Wednesday night. Damian Lillard has no problem throwing some shade at Thunder forward Paul George after his 37-foot game-winner on Wednesday night. George called Lillard's rainbow three a "bad shot" during his postgame press conference after Oklahoma City was eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs. Lillard responded on Thursday. "For him to say that’s a bad shot, that’s just kind of being a poor sport," Lillard said on teammate C.J. McCollum's podcast. "If anything, it was bad defense, because I had the ball in my hands with two seconds, and I wasn’t going to drive, so maybe he should’ve just bodied up." Lillard averaged 33 points per game in the first round of the West playoffs, including a 50-point effort on Wednesday. He predicted Portland would end the Thunder's season on Monday night, telling Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes, "I’m getting rid of these motherf---ers tomorrow." The Blazers will face either the Nuggets or Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. Portland will be seeking its first conference finals appearance since 2000.<doc-sep>
Paul George was more than a little salty when responding to questions about his defense and the final play of the Portland Trail Blazers’ dramatic 118-115 win over over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their first round NBA playoff series. When asked about the final play in which Damian Lillard stepped back and shot a 37-foot jumper that rattled in, George told reporters, “That’s a bad shot. I don’t care what anyone says. That’s a bad shot. But he made it. That story will be told but it was a bad shot and you have to live with it.” The internet savagely trolled George for those remarks. Fans pointed out that Lillard has become known for being able to shoot from nearly anywhere on the court, thus the nickname “Logo Lillard,” which has recently become a fan favorite due to his penchant for hurling long-range triples from the midcourt logo. Other than a tweet that laughed at George’s remarks, Damain Lillard had not said anything about those remarks. That is, until now. Lillard joined CJ McCollum on his podcast - Pull Up - to talk about the game and more, including a question about George’s postgame comments and the fact he called Lillard’s game-winner “a bad shot.” “For him to say that’s a bad shot, that’s just kind of being a poor sport,” Lillard said. “If anything, it was bad defense, because I had the ball in my hands with two seconds, and I wasn’t going to drive, so maybe he should’ve just bodied up.” Looks like Lillard got the last word on the court and off it. - Tim Brown, The Oregonian/OregonLive | @timfsbrown