Damian Lillard had 40 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for Portland. In fact, it falls only 3-points shy of the highest individual points tally for any quarter in National Basketball Association history, now sitting second to Klay Thompson’s 3rd quarter effort of 37 against Sacramento a year ago. But playing a pair of rim protecting bigs – Mason Plumlee and Ed Davis – uncomfortable guarding out to the 3-point line, is asking for trouble.The Cavs – and Love – made the Blazers pay from the jump.Love started at the left elbow, dribbled toward the baseline and hit a tough fadeaway jumper over Plumlee.”Every game we post Kevin first play”, Lue admitted. Love already surpassed his season-high of 27 points.
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Love scored an NBA-record 34 points in the first quarter and the second most points in a quarter in National Basketball Association history.
Ultimately, Love finished the regular season strong and played well in the first three rounds of the postseason. That set the team record for points in a single quarter.
In other action, San Antonio defeated Charlotte 119-114 with Kawhi Leonard scoring 30 points in the Spurs’ seventh straight victory.
Love was 8-of-14 from the field; James 6-of-13.
“That’s pretty insane. We nearly have more assists than rebounds”.
James had his second triple-double this season.
The Hawks (10-5) bounced back from an 18-point Tuesday night home loss to New Orleans to dominate struggling IN, including 56-37 IN rebounding.
Ersan Ilyasova had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia.
The victory means Cleveland remain top of the Eastern Conference standings with an 11-2 record.
The Warriors made 26 assists during that 80-point stretch. DeMar DeRozan’s 24 point night helped Toronto outduel Houston.
Iman Shumpert hit his 300th career three-pointer, LeBron James moved up to 17th on the NBA’s all-time assist list and Kyrie Irving passed Booby Gibson for third in Cavs all-time threes.
The Cavs’ performance hasn’t really been surprising but what has really impressed is that they are consistently doing well sans a primary back-up to their star point guard, Kyrie Irving. He finished with 40 points, 11 off his career high.
Love’s breakout game His fist 40-point game since April 14, 2014, his second-to-last game with the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Love was white-hot from three-point range, the Cavaliers as a whole were right behind him. It was the first time the Sixers won back-to-back games since March 2015. In all, he made 12 out of his 20 shots, including eight three-pointers out of 12 attempts.
He also made all four of his free throws. Evan Turner chipped in an efficient 17 points. Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 13 (19 PTS).
The Cavs led 46-31 after the first quarter, matching the franchise record for most points in a quarter. Howard, who is averaging a double-double on the season, has recorded three double-doubles in his last four games.
Brandon Ingram and backups Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams had 16 points apiece for the Lakers.
DeMarcus Cousins had 36 points and 13 rebounds, leading Sacramento over slumping Oklahoma City.
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The second half did not fare well for the Mavs who were down by as much as 45 points. Thompson was the only player with more in a quarter, as he went 9-for-9 in that game against the Kings.
