Damian Lillard Before Game 5 vs. Thunder: 'Getting Rid of These Motherf--kers'

Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard dropped 50 points and hit a buzzer-beating 37-foot three-pointer to lead his team to a 118-115 NBA playoff series-clinching win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Lillard was a man on a mission, and that sentiment became even clearer after Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports revealed that the three-time All-Star said on Monday that he planned on "getting rid of these motherf--kers tomorrow": 

"Damian Lillard invited a few people to his home for dinner on Monday night to watch Game 4 of the first-round series between the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets.

"For several minutes, the Portland Trail Blazers' star guard sat quietly on his sofa, chowing down on fried catfish, red beans and rice, and broccoli. And then suddenly, he spoke: 'I'm getting rid of these motherf---ers tomorrow.'"

Lillard made 17 of 33 field goals and 10 of 18 three-pointers en route to victory. 

The stakes were raised a bit for Portland.

First, the Blazers were trying to bounce back from an ugly four-game first-round sweep at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans last season, something Lillard referenced to Haynes.

"The reason I wanted this series is because if we really wanted to do something special, we needed a good test," Lillard told Haynes.

"Coming off how we were swept last year by New Orleans, I wanted to face a team and an opponent that people thought we couldn't beat. I wanted to prove something from the jump. We needed a matchup that would potentially bring out the best of us. There were no excuses. We had every reason to be up for this."

Second, Portland and Oklahoma City didn't take long to engage in a heated series with plenty of trash-talking.

As Haynes noted, Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook made "rock the baby" gestures after hitting shots over Lillard. He also made remarks to Lillard that included the word "b---h."

Lillard didn't seem too upset about those actions, per his remarks to Haynes.

Those weren't the only issues, however. Thunder backup point guard Dennis Schroder did Lillard's "Dame Time" celebration in Game 3, and Paul George went in for a reverse dunk at the buzzer with the Thunder already up 120-108 and the game long over.

Blazers guard/forward Evan Turner referenced Schroder's action to reporters after Game 5. "I hope y'all ask Schroder what's up," Turner said. "He was talking that 'Dame Time' s--t. That's what it was tonight."

The George dunk didn't count, but Lillard was stunned he even tried:

"The way I took it, I didn't expect that from PG," Lillard told Haynes. "I thought he was going to just dribble it out, but then he dunked it. I was like, 'Damn. Didn't expect that from him.' Maybe they needed to do something to motivate them, but I wasn't tripping."

After being taken out of Game 4 with the Blazers up big, Lillard even considered telling a teammate to try to hit a game-ending three-pointer to rub salt in the wound.

"S--t, if I ended the game, I might have just fired a deep three at the buzzer," Lillard told Haynes. "But Coach took me out. I thought about telling [Blazers guard Anfernee Simons] to shoot it, but I thought to myself that just because they did it, doesn't mean we needed to. I yelled for him to just hold it."

It was Dame Time throughout the entire series, as he averaged 33.0 points. Remarkably, Lillard topped that amount in one half alone on Tuesday by scoring 34.

The Blazers will face the winner of the Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs series in the second round. Denver is up 3-2 in the best-of-seven contest, with Game 6 in San Antonio on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.