Lillard leads Trail Blazers past Pacers 100-86
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Damian Lillard scored 26 points and eight assists, Jusuf Nurkic had 19 points and a season-high 17 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers won their fifth consecutive home game, beating the Indiana Pacers 100-86 on Thursday night.
C.J. McCollum added 16 points and Shabazz Napier 13 for Portland, which seems to have its homecourt mojo back, winning five straight after dropping six consecutive home games in early December. The Blazers also beat Indiana for the ninth consecutive time on their home floor.
Victor Oladipo and Darren Collison scored 23 points each for Indiana.
Portland took control late in the third quarter, when the Blazers held Indiana scoreless for more than five minutes. It was part of Portland’s 21-2 run, during which Napier scored eight points to help erase a six-point deficit and give the Blazers an 89-76 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Indiana was without forward Myles Turner, the team’s second-leading scorer this season. Turner has missed five consecutive games with a right elbow injury.
McCollum sprinted from the floor to the locker room early in the fourth quarter with a brief bout of nausea, but returned a few minutes later.
Portland led 52-47 at halftime, and the difference was a pair of buzzer-beaters: McCollum’s 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter, and Lillard’s desperation layup off a drive to finish the second quarter.
The Blazers continued their last-second mastery in the third quarter, as Napier made a backcourt steal then buried a 3-pointer as time expired to tie it at 74. It wiped out a terrific quarter by Collison, who hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points to help Indiana lead by as many as six.
TIP-INS
Pacers: The last time Indiana won in Portland was Nov. 28, 2007. … Of the 12 games Turner has missed this season, two came against Portland. … Lance Stephenson missed the team’s morning shootaround with an illness, but played. He finished with no points on 0-of-6 shooting from the floor and missed both of his foul shots. … Indiana is 2-1 on its current five-game road trip, having won at Phoenix and Utah.
Trail Blazers: Led by 12 boards from Nurkic, Portland outrebounded Indiana 29-18 in the first half. … Nurkic had a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 12 rebounds. … Portland swept the season series from Indiana for the third time in four seasons. The Blazers won 114-96 over the Pacers on Oct. 20. … Al-Farouq Aminu is averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds in his last four games against Indiana.
UP NEXT
Pacers: at Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Trail Blazers: home against Dallas on Saturday.
