Lillard scores 28 as Trail Blazers beat Clippers 104-96

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Damian Lillard scored 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 104-96 on Tuesday night.

Los Angeles was playing its first game since Blake Griffin’s stunning trade to Detroit on Monday.

CJ McCollum added 16 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and 18 rebounds for the Blazers, who ended a seven-game skid against the Clippers while winning their third in a row.

Lou Williams scored 20 points off the bench and DeAndre Jordan had 19 rebounds for the Clippers, who made a run in the fourth after they trailed by 20.

Montrezl Harrell scored 11 of his 15 points early in the period and then Los Angeles scored 10 straight points to get to 100-94.

But the Clippers were limited to one field goal in the final 2 minutes.

After a close first half, the Blazers outscored the Clippers 30-16 in the third. Lillard had nine points, and Nurkic and ex-Clippers Al-Farouq Aminu had six points each.

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: Lillard has scored 20 or more points in five of his last seven games against the Clippers. … They improved to 7-17 against LA since the 2011-12 season.

Clippers: F Danilo Gallinari returned to the lineup after missing 19 games with a left glute injury. He had 15 points. … Williams got a technical in the fourth. … Dodgers CF Joc Pederson attended.

UP NEXT

Trail Blazers: Host the Bulls on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back.

Clippers: Host Chicago on Saturday in the first of two meetings this season.

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