Al Horford is on board with including Damian Lillard in the MVP conversation

After Damian Lillard’s game-winner vs. the New Orleans Pelicans, Al Horford tweeted that the Portland Trail Blazers star belongs in MVP conversation.

It’s unsurprising that Oklahoma City Thunder center Al Horford thinks Damian Lillard belongs in the MVP conversation.

We’re only two nights removed from Lillard accounting for 18 points in the final five minutes of the Portland Trail Blazers’ win over the Thunder, a stretch in which he hit four 3-pointers and assisted two others to stymie an OKC comeback.

It marked the fifth straight Blazers victory, a streak that has since been extended, and was sandwiched between a pair of other dominant performances by the point guard.

On Sunday, Lillard put up 34 points to lead Portland over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. On Tuesday, he took over at the end of the game to beat the Thunder, finishing with 31 points. The next night, he put up 43 points, 16 assists and scored the game-winner against the New Orleans Pelicans.

That final performance prompted Horford to quote-tweet reporter Nate Jones, who had posted that “no one is playing like more of a MVP right now” than Lillard.

Horford agreed.

So far, the NBA MVP conversation has largely centered around Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant.

Lillard has entered the chat.

Serious Most Valuable Award conversation is still distant — we have a whole second half of the season to play — but right around the corner is the All-Star Game.

Voting for the starters will be announced Thursday, and the second guard spot next to Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry will likely be either Lillard or Doncic.

It appears Horford thinks it should be Lillard. It’s clear why.