Carmelo Anthony Praises Damian Lillard's 'Strong Mindset' After Clippers Beef

Damian Lillard made a statement with his performance in Sunday's win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Portland Trail Blazers star scored 51 points in the 124-121 victory, including three clutch three-pointers in the final three minutes to help seal the game.

"That's just a testament not only of how great of a player he is, and how great of a person he is, but how strong his mindset is at the end of the day," teammate Carmelo Anthony said, per Jason Quick of The Athletic. "It's an honor playing alongside him and being able to be out there in the dogfight and pulling games out like this, knowing how locked in he is."

The win was vital as Portland moved to just half-a-game behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with two seeding games remaining.

It was also an important game for Lillard personally after a disappointing loss the night before. The point guard missed two key free throws in a 122-117 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, leading to some post-game trash talk between Lillard and Paul George and Patrick Beverley.

Lillard had to respond on the court, and he did just that with a lights-out performance against the 76ers, shooting 16-of-28 from the field in the win.

He clearly has the respect of his teammates, even impressing a 17-year NBA veteran in Anthony.