Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard Says He's Expanded His 3-Point Range to Half Court

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard doesn't appear content with his ability to sink 35-foot three-point shots with ease.

Lillard told Jason Quick of The Athletic that he might break out half-court shots during games this season. 

"Obviously, I'm not just going to be out here every game firing a shot from half court—or maybe not even every 20 games," he said. "It might be once or twice in the whole season that I feel like … F it."

Last week, the Blazers tweeted video of Lillard making three consecutive shots from the logo at center court:

With Stephen Curry missing virtually all of last season because of injury, Lillard took the crown as the NBA's most feared shooter from 35 feet.

During the NBA hiatus in March, NBA.com ran an article asking what would happen if Lillard only took shots between 35 and 39 feet from the basket with a 60 percent success rate after rounding down from his 66.7 percent rate in games last season:

"Through these 58 games, Lillard scores 2,275 points, which leads the NBA ahead of James Harden's 2,096. He is averaging 39.2 points per game, which would rank as the third most in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 1961-62 (50.3 PPG) and 1962-63 (44.8) seasons. Portland would be 46-19, good for the #2 seed in the West.

"To reiterate, this thought experiment has no basis in reality. Lillard would in all likelihood not continue to average 60% shooting from near half court, and teams would surely begin double-teaming him as soon as he crossed the line. But the point still stands: what if Logo Lillard was forever?"

Head coach Terry Stotts told Quick "we all know it's coming" in reference to his All-Star guard shooting from half court during games.

During the season restart, Lillard went on an epic run to get the Blazers into the postseason. The 30-year-old averaged 37.6 points with a 43.6 three-point percentage in eight games. He tied his career high with 61 points on Aug. 11 in a 134-131 win over the Dallas Mavericks.