Damian Lillard described the process required to become a lethal shooter after scoring a season-high 50 points, with the Portland Trail Blazers star lauding Stephen Curry as the greatest in the NBA.

Lillard's haul included 20 in the final quarter as Portland secured a stunning 125-124 comeback victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, having been 17 points behind in the fourth.

The Pelicans were inspired by Lillard's glorious display as he added 10 assists and six rebounds, finishing 18 of 18 from free-throws.

Lillard is now tied with LeBron James in seventh for all-time most 50-point NBA games, while he became only the fourth player to have racked up at least 16,000 points and dished out at least 4,000 assists in their first nine seasons.

Asked by the TNT post-match team how he became such a brilliant shooter, Lillard emphasised the work ethic needed and singled out Golden State Warriors hero Curry as the best in the business.

"It's just putting a lot of time into it," he said.

"We got some great shooters in our league. Obviously we think of Steph Curry first when we think of shooters, the greatest shooter to ever play in our league.

"He'll tell you the same thing, that it's a lot of reps. Whether people are watching or whether you get credit for it or not, you put the time in and you do it at a game pace, you do it with focus, you do it where you hold yourself to a certain standard.

"You make 10 in a row at each spot at the end of your workout when you're tired and you probably don't want to do it, it's things like that over and over again over the years.

"You get better from the reps, but more so than physically you get better mentally and more confident in it because you've done it so often and you've done it when you're tired, you've done it when you didn't want to.

"Then in the moments – whether it's first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, a tough shot, an easy shot – you've got the ultimate confidence that it's going to go in.  

"I think confidence is the biggest thing for shooters, right next to just getting the reps in and knowing in your heart that you didn't cheat it, you put the time in and you deserved to make those shots and you expect that result."

The win improved Portland's record to 23-16 as they remain firmly in playoff contention, while the Pelicans slipped to 17-23, despite Lonzo Ball's career-high 17 assists.