Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups relished the team’s 119–116 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, one that likely tasted sweeter than other regular season games.

In what Billups called a “culture win,” Portland beat Damian Lillard and the Bucks in Lillard’s first game back in Rip City since he was traded last offseason.

From one perspective, the Trail Blazers spoiled Lillard’s emotional homecoming. From another, Portland merely proved what the franchise is capable of without their beloved star.

“I just didn’t think the moment was too big for our team,” Billups said in a postgame interview. “We just played so hard. We played together. We continue to get better just playing with each other… I want Dame to play well 80 times a year, except for when he plays against us. This was, I felt like, just a big, big character win for us. A culture win for us.”

Key performances by Anfernee Simmons and Scoot Henderson helped Portland clinch its second straight victory as the Trail Blazers picked apart the Bucks’ weaknesses in the paint all game.

Lillard, an eight-time All-Star, was honored with a pregame standing ovation, and Moda Center also played tributes throughout the game to honor him for his 11 seasons with the franchise. He finished the game with 25 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.

“I just felt appreciated, you know?” Lillard said of his homecoming. “You just feel the appreciation and the love. It was like, man, this is a big deal. Just to take that moment [in] and to have everybody in that building show me that type of love, it was an acknowledgement of a lot of things during my time here.”