"His clutch shooting": Skip Bayless shockingly questions one of Damian Lillard's strongest suits
The Milwaukee Bucks' acquisition of Damian Lillard places the team in a good position to compete for the championship in the 2024 playoffs. Alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the Bucks now have a career 25.2 points per game scorer (43.9% shooting, including 37.2% from 3-point range).
However, Skip Bayless went live on FS1's "Undisputed" and talked about his reservations with the newly acquired seven-time all-star.
"I'm not as big a Dame fan as you two are," Bayless said, "I still question his mental toughness, occasionally, and his clutch shooting."
Bayless mentioned how Lillard struggled in closing out a game against the Golden State Warriors series in the 2019 playoffs. During that series, Lillard struggled on the floor while averaging 22.3 ppg (37.1% shooting, including 36.8% from 3-point range).
In Game 4 of the series with Portland down 3-0, Damian Lillard only scored 5 points (2-of-8 shooting, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range) in the fourth quarter. When the game went to overtime, he struggled once again with only 2 points (1-of-3 shooting, including 0-of-1 from 3-point range).
Be that as it may, Lillard has also had his fair share of clutch moments throughout his career. His game-winners against the Houston Rockets (2014 playoffs) and the OKC Thunder (2019 playoffs), including his clutch shooting numbers during the 2020-21 season are not to be understated.
Skip Bayless is not fond of Jrue Holiday being traded for Damian Lillard
Before criticizing Lillard's mental toughness and clutch shooting, Bayless had his first reaction to the trade via X. Bayless isn't too fond of the Milwaukee Bucks letting go of Jrue Holiday for Lillard.
During the 2022-23 season, Holiday averaged 19.3 ppg (47.9% shooting, including 38.4% from 3-point range), 7.4 apg and 5.1 rpg. His numbers were still up to par as he was one of the main contributors during the Bucks' 2021 championship run.
However, his defensive capabilities struggled in slowing down Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler in the first-round series of the 2023 playoffs. In that series, Holiday had the responsibility of guarding Butler. He was not the sole defender, but for the majority of the series, he was.
According to NBA.com, Holiday and Butler matched up against one another for 228.9 possessions with 44 minutes in total. From those possessions, Butler made 56.5% of his shots and 64.3% from 3-point range. He scored 66 points in total against Jrue Holiday's defense.
From the Bucks' perspective, they needed an offensive counter that could help them in crunch-time situations, including running crunch-time offense late in the fourth quarter. With the addition of Lillard, the Bucks will have a reliable offensive star paired alongside Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Lopez.