A clip of Damian Lillard’s series-winning three-pointer against the Houston Rockets began circulating again this week on Reddit’s r/nba, pulling one of the NBA’s modern iconic moments back into the conversation. The Streamable upload had drawn roughly 90 views as of this writing — modest traffic, but enough to send the highlight rippling through basketball circles again.
The play needs no introduction to anyone who followed the 2014 playoffs. Game 6 of the Western Conference first round, April 30, 2014. Portland trailing 98-96. 0.9 seconds on the clock. Lillard, then in his second NBA season, curled off a screen on the left wing, caught the inbound pass from Nicolas Batum, and rose up over Chandler Parsons for a three that swished cleanly. Moda Center erupted. Final score: 99-98. Series over, 4-2.
That shot gave the Trail Blazers their first playoff series victory since 2000 — a fourteen-year drought snapped in less than a second. Wikipedia’s entry on the 2014 playoffs notes that the first round that year “is generally considered one of the greatest postseason rounds in NBA history,” with a record 24 road wins and eight overtime games. Lillard’s buzzer-beater was the exclamation point.
What stands out watching the clip now is how little margin there was. Parsons — 6-foot-9 with a wingspan that could cover a pasture fence — got a hand up. The release was clean, but the contest was real. Lillard didn’t need a screen to shake him entirely; he just needed a sliver of airspace and the confidence to let it fly with the season hanging on one possession. The film doesn’t lie: that’s a shot most guys don’t have the nerve to take, let alone make.
Lillard was 23 years old, fresh off a Rookie of the Year campaign in which he’d started all 82 games and led first-year players in scoring and assists. The 2013-14 season earned him his first All-Star selection and first All-NBA nod. The Houston series cemented the “Dame Time” reputation that would follow him through a career spanning nine All-Star appearances and a spot on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
The Rockets, meanwhile, were in their first postseason under coach Kevin McHale, led by James Harden and Dwight Howard. They’d pushed Portland to six games but never led the series. Game 6 was their best chance to force a decisive Game 7 on their home floor — they were up two with the clock bleeding out — and Lillard erased it in one motion.
The recirculated clip arrives with no new context, no anniversary marker, no documentary tie-in. Just a highlight finding its way back to the surface, the way great plays do. Lillard is now back with the Trail Blazers after a two-year stint in Milwaukee that ended with an Achilles injury during the 2025 playoffs and his subsequent release. He signed a three-year deal to return to Portland, the franchise that drafted him sixth overall in 2012.
Eleven years later, the shot still travels. And it still stings in Houston.
Sources:
- Streamable — Highlight clip
- Reddit r/nba — Discussion thread
- Wikipedia — 2014 NBA Playoffs
- Wikipedia — Damian Lillard