Damian Lillard Helped His Mom out by Winning at Madison Square Garden

Getty Images Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers

Playing an away game is typically unfavorable for many athletes around the world for many reasons. In basketball, home-court advantage is real if the crowd is genuinely into the game. There really is no place like home when it comes to competitive sports. But sometimes, visiting players can enjoy the experience if they have some sort of personal connection with the arena/stadium.

For example, many NBA players may enjoy playing the New York Knicks on the road. As the Knicks home court is at the historic Madison Square Garden, it’s always an exciting experience for players who don’t get to play at MSG on a nightly basis. For Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, he had a blast on Tuesday playing in New York City.

Clearly, a victory on the road is bound to make any player happy, but Lillard’s reason for smiling after the game had something to do with helping out his mother. Lillard’s mom, Gina Johnson has put together a ‘bucket list,’ and it just so happened to contain watching her son win at Madison Square Garden on the list. Fortunately, Johnson was in attendance as Lillard helped lead the Blazers’ to a 118-114 victory over the Knicks.

Lillard Helps His Mom Check One Off

A Blazers Win at ‘The Garden’ was enough for Gina Johnson to be satisfied, but Lillard made sure to make the entire moment extra special. The Blazers’ guard put on a show on Tuesday, as he drained 29 points, along with six rebounds and eight assists. Quite the follow-up game after Lillard just dropped 40 points against the Washington Wizards two nights ago.

How’s that for a birthday gift? Once again, Lillard is proving that he is one of the elite guards in the NBA, as he consistently builds his stats early on in the year. And thanks to a 29 point night in New York, Lillard raises his average to 26.6 points-per-game on the year, which is quite similar to the numbers he put up last season. It looks like Lillard will have yet, another solid year for the Blazers in 2018-2019.