Bucks’ Damian Lillard scores 40 on way to becoming 17th fastest player to reach 20,000 points

During the Bucks’ 132-119 win against the Spurs on Tuesday night, Damian Lillard made history, as he became the 51st player in NBA history to reach the 20,000 career points milestone. 

Lillard accomplished this feat in style, as he scored 40 points, while shooting 7-of-12 from three-point range. To point out, this was Dame’s first 40-point game as a Bucks’ player, being that last game vs. the Rockets he was just one point shy with 39. 

Notably, Lillard is the all-time leading scorer in Trail Blazers’ franchise history, and with 2,034 points he currently ranks eighth in the NBA among active players (LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Chris Paul). With this in mind, if Lillard maintained his career 25.2 scoring average, he would move up ten spots to be ranked 41st on the all-time NBA scoring list after this season, barring injury.

In addition, if Lillard, 33, scored 20+ points for five more seasons, he could potentially crack the top-ten list of NBA players, in career points scored, by the time he retires.

After becoming the 17th fastest player (794 games) in NBA history to reach the mark of 20,000 points, Dame reflected on the journey, “The 20,000 points, when I hear that number it just takes me back to the beginning,” Lillard stated. “Everything that I put into it, you know the hard days, the struggles, the ups and downs, just continuing to fight through, continuing to have faith and just being strong.”

“Being true to the game and you find yourself in this situation, so it’s a blessing and an honor to have that type of accomplishment.”

The Bucks are on a roll as of late, that is to say with Tuesday’s win, Milwaukee is currently on a 14-game win streak at home, as they improve to a 20-7 record, making them just one game back out of first place in the Eastern Conference standings.

To mention, Lillard’s counterpart Giannis Antetokounmpo also contributed a triple double, putting up 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 16 assists (career high).

The Bucks’ have arguably the most feared duo in the league. “Myself and Giannis are still trying to figure out how we can be in more actions together and take advantage of some defenses,” Lillard said earlier this month at the start of the team’s current 5-game win streak. “I think now, it’s just starting to get a little smooth.”