Damian Lillard hits the go ahead shot, which he's Dunmore than anyone in the world since he entered the N B A.

Everyone knows that Dude's got ice water in his veins and Luca missed.

Luca had an open look.

It looked good, but it didn't go down.

Lillard ended with 34 points, three boards and 11 assists.

Luca with 44 7 and nine.

You know Dallas was my sleeper team this year, and they're still my sleeper team because people are asleep on them because defensively, they're not good and poor.

Zynga's doesn't look good.

This is the problem with poor Zynga's.

Every year he's rehabbing from injury.

But let's keep in mind if he can stay healthy when the playoffs roll around Dallas.

No one's gonna want to see them.

If if Porzingis comes back to what he was and then some and stays healthy in the playoffs, he's far off from that right now.

But if he gets there and he has enough time to Dallas is gonna be impossible.

And Luca, by the way, can play a lot better than he's been playing, believe it or not.

44 7 and nine, but still Lillard.

In the meantime, Stephen A.

Was going off on first take, apologizing to Damian Lillard for ignoring him.

Listen to him.

Here's Stephen A on first take today on behalf.

All the great eh, NBA reporters, all the great aficionados, all the great analysts on behalf of everyone, I will put myself at the top of the list.

I apologize.

There's my four because this brother Damia Lily, has been ignored for four to look.

He is the rial deal, and he doesn't time and time and time again, and we don't talk about him enough.

Let's go stop today.

Let's go stop.

Today he's on that damn M V P list.

Yes, he is on the M V P list.

We don't talk about him enough for a simple reason.

His teams don't make deep playoff runs.

That's who we talk about the teams that make a deep playoff runs.

I remember Snoop with the line going back.

I don't know 20 years or something, I forgot what song it was.

I throw strikes like Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens.

Pitch is short shut out the whole nine innings, and I was thinking to myself of everyone he could have shouted out, he shouted out, Andy Pettitte.

I mean, as a Yankees fan, that's great.

But why is he shot?

Because Andy Pettitte's in the world.

Siri's every year, right?

You talk about and you think about the players that make the deepest playoff runs well, Damien Looters in the Pacific Northwest?

Not a media hub like you know, L.

A or New York or a sexy destination like Miami, Damian Lillard's team has not been good enough to make deep playoff runs, and furthermore, when you talk about guys who don't get enough ink or enough press, enough coverage Oh, they don't get talked about enough is an M V P.

If I asked anyone out there, who's the M V P?

How many people are gonna say Lillard, I don't mean in the conversation.

I mean M v p.

It's either gonna be LeBron or Embiid or K d.

Maybe.

And then it's gonna be Yokich, right?

Tell me when we've gotten Thio.

Lillard Lillard is then in the conversation with CO y and Steph and Yanis, so the fact is, he's not one of the top two or probably even three M v P candidates.

He's not playing in a big market, and most importantly, he hasn't taken his team deep enough into the playoffs.

Understand?

The whole basketball world loves Damian Lillard.

I love to.

Everyone reveres this guy.

It's like a cult of Damian Lillard.

What a leader.

He doesn't duck out of responsibility.

He's not trying to just glom onto a winner.

He's trying toe win where he is.

He's every France.

Every franchise want that guy to be their franchise player.

So it's not like people don't admire him enough.

But if he wants to get the same kind of press that the other guys get, you gotta make deep playoff runs.

Gotta make deeper playoff runs.

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