Blazers' Damian Lillard Putting NBA 'on Notice' After Win vs. Lakers, Billups Says

Dame Time was in full effect Sunday.

The Portland Trail Blazers star point guard, Damian Lillard, lit up the Los Angeles Lakers to the tune of 41 points in a 106-104 win, a reminder after his injury-plagued 2021-22 season that Dame hasn't lost a step.

"More importantly, we got Damian Lillard," head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters after the performance. "Obviously, Dame is back and is pretty much putting the league on notice."

It was Lillard's second straight game scoring 41 points, and the new-look Blazers have started the season 3-0.

The Lakers, meanwhile, dropped to a disappointing 0-3, and issues of Russell Westbrook's fit—he missed a jumper in the final 30 seconds, seemingly an attempt to give the Lakers a two-for-one possession advantage—persist.

While the Lakers' team-building strategy around LeBron James and Anthony Davis remains in question, the Blazers made some big moves in the offseason, adding players like Jerami Grant—who hit the game-winning layup Sunday—Gary Payton II and Shaedon Sharpe while re-signing Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkić.

The idea was to quickly re-tool around Dame after last year's 27-55 horror show. So far, so good, mostly because it hasn't taken Lillard long to get back to his elite level of play.

He told reporters Sunday that addressing his injury issues last season, getting surgery and having time to rehabilitate helped him come into this season ready to go:

"We wanted to just put him in isolation situations and he craves those moments," Billups said of the team's late-game offense revolving around Lillard, which included a clutch three with just 12.4 seconds remaining.

Set your clocks accordingly, NBA defenders—it's Dame Time once more.