On the second night of a back-to-back, Damian Lillard once again willed the Portland Trail Blazers into position for a late victory with a host of shots that would be miraculous for anyone else but have somehow become ordinary for him, only to be robbed by one of the worst missed calls you will ever see. 

After letting a 14-point halftime lead slip away, the Blazers were down seven with three minutes to play. Lillard finished a sweet left-handed layup over Rudy Gobert, navigated a double team and found C.J. McCollum for a corner three, and with just over a minute to play hit this absurd 3-pointer to tie the score. 

Donovan Mitchell answered with a blow-by layup on the other end to put Utah back up two with 19 seconds to play. That's when Lillard split a double team at the top of the key and exploded downhill to the rim, where this happened:

Even in real time, it was blatantly obvious the ball hit the backboard before Gobert swatted it away. That's goaltending. Clear as day. To drive the point home, check out the overhead look:

So you see, goaltending. Indisputable. Lillard immediately argued for a review, but here's the really rich part: League replay rules dictate that if goaltending is called on the court, it can be reviewed to determine whether it was the right call, but if goaltending wasn't called on the court, it can't be reviewed. NBA replay rules, as far as what can and can't be reviewed and at what point in the game, continue to be a web of confusion and contradiction that is far too often impacting the outcomes of games. 

So the Blazers, unable to review an obviously botched call, were forced to foul. Gobert split the free throws to leave to door open for Portland trailing by three. Caleb Swanigan wound up with a wide open look from the corner to tie the score but missed long. Leaving the court in defeat, Lillard was rightfully furious.

Lillard is likely going to end up getting fined. I'm guessing his language wasn't particularly polite. It shouldn't have been. The guy scored 42 points, at altitude, on a back-to-back. It was his sixth time he's scored at least 40 points in the last nine games. In two of those games he had 50 and 51. In another one he had 61. He is playing otherworldly basketball trying to will this Blazers team into a playoff berth. And it was taken out of his hands. 

"We've since looked at [the play] via postgame video review, and unfortunately saw that we missed the play, and a goaltending violation should have been called," officiating crew chief Josh Tiven said after the game. 

Who knows whether Portland would have gone on to win the game? Even if the goaltending had been correctly called, Utah would've had the final possession of regulation. Maybe they hit a game-winner or win it in overtime. However it would've played out, Lillard and the Blazers deserved their chance to keep fighting. 

This loss is a killer for Portland, which has been decimated by injuries this season and is simply trying to keep its head above water. Through Friday, the Blazers are 24-29 and three games back in the loss column of the eighth-seeded Grizzlies. There is a good chance Portland's playoff fate is going to come down to a game or two in the final weeks of the season. You already know this call is going to be revisited a lot, especially if the Blazers end up barely missing the playoffs.