Austin Rivers on Damian Lillard's 55-point Game: 'He Was Not Missing for S--t'

Denver Nuggets guard Austin Rivers shared the helpless feeling he had defending Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard during Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday night:

"Bro....he was not missing for s--t," Rivers wrote on Instagram. "1 [hand] in his face, 2 hands in his face. Lol I'm like wtf is this. Banking threes and s--t. In all seriousness, it's really fun to guard him. He's as tough as they come. No lie."

Although Lillard went off for 55 points, the Nuggets still pulled off a 147-140 double-overtime victory and took a 3-2 series lead.

Lillard was unstoppable Tuesday, playing 52 minutes and going 17-of-24 from the field and 12-of-17 from three.

The 12 made three-pointers set an NBA playoff record, breaking the previous mark of 11 set by Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson in 2016.

While Rivers had no answers for Lillard defensively, the replacement for the injured Jamal Murray had a solid game offensively with 18 points and seven assists in 47 minutes, the second-highest minute total on the team behind only Michael Porter Jr.'s 48.

Aside from Lillard, no other Blazers player reached the 20-point plateau. Meanwhile, three Nuggets players finished with at least 26, including 26 from Porter and 28 from Monte Morris off the bench.

It was once again center and NBA MVP front-runner Nikola Jokic who led the way for Denver, recording 38 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists over 46 minutes.

The Blazers also ran into major foul trouble by the end of the game with starters CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington all fouling out.

Lillard truly was a one-man show for the Blazers on Tuesday, and while it was nearly enough to pull out the victory, Denver's team approach ultimately won out.

Now, the Blazers are one loss away from a first-round exit for the fourth time in the past five seasons. Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. ET in Portland.