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Portland Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard made NBA history on Sunday night against Houston, becoming the eighth player ever to score 70-plus points.
In other news, the LA Lakers pulled off their biggest comeback in 21 years on Sunday versus the Dallas Mavericks.
On that note, here is the latest news from around the NBA as of Feb. 27, 2023.
Damian Lillard becomes eighth player to score 70-plus points
Damian Lillard set both career and franchise highs with 71 points in the Blazers’ 131-114 win over Houston on Sunday. In doing so, Lillard became just the eighth player ever to cross the 70-point mark in a single game.
Lillard, aged 32, also became the oldest to do so, according to ESPN. The Blazers’ previous franchise scoring high was 61 points. That mark was set by Lillard on two different occasions.
Lillard’s 13 3-pointers against Houston also marked both career and franchise highs, with his previous record being 11. Lillard finished just one 3-pointer short of Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson’s all-time record of 14 3-pointers.
Lillard joins Cleveland Cavaliers star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell as the only other player to score 70-plus points this season. Mitchell also scored 71 in a win over Chicago on January 2. Per ESPN Stats & Info, this marks the first time two players have scored 70-plus points in a single season.
With the win, Portland (29-31, 11th in the West) ended their two-game losing streak. Meanwhile, Houston (13-47, 15th in the West) has now lost nine straight games.
Also read this: How many 60-point games does Damian Lillard have in the NBA? Closer look at one of league's biggest under-achievers
Lakers make historic comeback versus Dallas
The LA Lakers trailed by 27 points in the second quarter against Dallas on Sunday before mounting a massive comeback to win 111-108. They did so on the back of their elite defense, which helped them to overcome their poor 3-point shooting (6-for-34, 17.6%).
LA were led by star forward Anthony Davis, who finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks on 60.0% shooting. Meanwhile, one of the Lakers’ newest additions, Jarred Vanderbilt, added 15 points, 17 rebounds and four steals on 75.0% shooting. As for the Mavericks, they were led by superstar guard Luka Doncic with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 45.5% shooting.
The Lakers’ 27-point comeback marked the biggest by any team this season. It also marked the franchise's biggest comeback since 2002 when they came back after trailing by 30 points against Dallas. In addition, the Lakers became the first team to win a game with six or fewer made 3-pointers, while the opposing team made 20-plus 3-pointers.
The win marked the Lakers’ (29-32, 12th in the West) third straight. Meanwhile, the Mavericks (32-30, sixth in the West) have now lost four of their last five games.
Atlanta Hawks name Quin Snyder coach
The Atlanta Hawks (31-30, eighth in the East) announced on Sunday that they have hired Quin Snyder as their new coach.
Snyder led the Utah Jazz to a 372-264 record in eight seasons as coach from 2014 to 2022. He also led Utah to six straight playoff appearances and three playoff series victories with a playoff record of 21-30.
Before coaching the Jazz, Snyder was an assistant coach with the Hawks during the 2013-14 season under coach Mike Budenholzer.
Hawks general manager Landry Fields spoke about the hiring on Sunday, highlighting Snyder’s high basketball IQ.
“From our first conversation, it was clear that Quin had all the characteristics we were looking for in our next head coach,” Fields said.
“He has both an incredible basketball and emotional IQ, and we share the same core values and basketball philosophies of having honest communication and collaboration with players, tremendous attention to detail and placing a great emphasis on player development. We are excited to welcome him, his wife Amy and their family back to Atlanta,” Fields continued.
Snyder also spoke about how thrilled he is to head back to Atlanta:
"I am thrilled to go back to Atlanta as the next head coach of the Hawks,” Snyder said.
“Landry has a tremendous reputation as an incredibly bright, high character, high quality individual and it was quickly evident that we share a passion and commitment to building a winning team with a strong foundation and high standards.
“I am excited to collaborate with Landry to create a successful program that devoted Hawks fans are proud of and cheer for and am grateful to Tony, Jami and the Ressler family for this opportunity. My family and I are looking forward to immersing ourselves in the community and calling Atlanta home,” he added.
Magic sign Michael Carter-Williams
The Orlando Magic (25-36, 13th in the East) have signed free agent guard Michael Carter-Williams to a two-year deal, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The former No. 11 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by Philadelphia has played eight seasons for six different teams. He last played for Orlando from 2019 to 2021. Carter-Williams then missed the start of the 2021-2022 season after undergoing ankle surgery and was subsequently waived on Feb. 10, 2022.
Carter-Williams has career averages of 10.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 40.8% shooting. He has averaged 7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.3 apg and 1.0 spg on 40.0% shooting in 88 games with Orlando.
Derrick Rose says he hasn't discussed buyout with Knicks
It was recently reported that the Phoenix Suns are interested in acquiring former MVP Derrick Rose if he is bought out by New York. This comes as Rose has fallen out of the Knicks' rotation. However, according to Rose, he has not even discussed the possibility of a buyout:
“No, I haven’t talked to anybody about that. I haven’t talked to anyone,” Rose said on Saturday.
“I haven’t even thought about it. I’m locked in to my thing right now. It’s kind of hard to think about something that I’ve never pursued and never talked about with them.
“I’ve just been locked in, doing my recovery. I talk to Thibs about the team, talk to Leon about the team, but other than that, I haven’t talked to them about (a buyout). I think that we’ve been so transparent in the past that if I was thinking about moving, or they was to move me somewhere, they’d give me a heads up,” he continued.
Rose is averaging 5.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.7 apg on 38.4% shooting through 27 games. He has only appeared in one game since the new year, playing just two minutes against New Orleans on Saturday.
