Denver had won three of four (see full recap).
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Paul George scored 22 points, 11 assists and five rebounds as the Indiana Pacers edged out the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98.
Utah lost for the third time in four games and is in ninth place in the West.
The Jazz led by as much as 13 in the game, but Lillard helped spark a comeback nearly on his own.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Damian Lillard came through with the best game of his career against his hometown team. They weren’t good at all, but Lillard and CJ McCollum were just splendiferous.
NOTES: Portland sank eight of its first nine shots from the field and led 42-31 after a first quarter that featured a shootout between Portland G Damian Lillard (17 points) and Golden State G Stephen Curry (16). McCollum sank two free throws to boost the difference to 113-109 with 13.3 seconds left. You will need to indicate to her that you are donating the tickets you order to Blazer’s Edge Night.
With the Jazz coming to town, the Blazers have a chance to put some space between themselves and Utah in the tight race at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff standings.
Portland emerged from a whirlwind first half with a 68-62 lead after seizing a 19-point lead early in the second quarter.
The Portland Trail Blazers rank 20th with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.49.
“I think I made a comment during the timeout like, ‘Reward our hard work that got us back into the game by taking care of the ball and getting good possessions.’ And we didn’t do it, so we deserved to lose tonight”.
Mason Plumlee added 12 points in the win and Maurice Harkless had 11 for the Blazers.
“He was phenomenal”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Lillard. “He’s changing every game for us”.
“I felt in rhythm”, Lillard said. “It is a similar system to what we ran in Atlanta”. Hayward tied it again at 109-109 on a short jumper with 29 seconds to play, but Lillard’s driving layup made it 111-109 with 20.4 seconds to go.
“Really, the story of the game was their offensive rebounding”.
Lillard’s two-day rampage started on Saturday, when he swept the Warriors away with 51 points in just over 31 minutes of playing time.
He could have fooled a lot of people with his performance in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 137-105 drubbing of the Golden State Warriors.
The Trail Blazers have won two of three from the Jazz (27-27) this season and can claim the tiebreaker with a victory in this matchup of teams in contention for a playoff spot separated by one-half game. The Blazer have not been as solid, especially at the beginning of the year, but have improved greatly during their recent hot streak. Portland’s next game is against the Nets tomorrow; the Nets might want to consider not showing up.
6 – Over the last 15 games, the Blazers have forced the sixth most turnovers per game in the NBA according to NBA.com.
CHICAGO – Doug McDermott had a career-high 30 points and Chicago beat Toronto to snap a five-game losing streak.
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Carmelo Anthony had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Knicks. Friday also marked the fifth 40-plus point game of Lillard’s career, which ranks third in franchise history, topping Roy (four) and LaMarcus Aldridge (three).
