Damian Lillard scored 13 of his 25 points in the third quarter and the Portland Trail Blazers prevailed 123-103 over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in the first of back-to-back games between the teams.
Deni Avdija added 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Sidy Cissoko scored 17 points as Portland defeated the Thunder for just the second time in the past 21 meetings. Lillard, who made four 3-pointers, didn’t play in the final quarter due to the Trail Blazers’ comfortable lead.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and eight rebounds and didn’t play in the final quarter for Oklahoma City, which had a four-game winning streak halted.
Jared McCain added 21 points and Ajay Mitchell had 14 for Oklahoma City, which trailed by as many as 22 points after the game was tied 59-59 at halftime.
The two teams meet again Wednesday night in Portland.
The Trail Blazers outscored Oklahoma City 38-21 in the third quarter to open up a 17-point lead. Lillard had three of the team’s seven treys in the period.
The Trail Blazers led by nine entering the final minute of the quarter. Avdija converted a layup and a 3-pointer to give Portland a 14-point advantage before Lillard buried a signature 30-foot trey with 1.1 seconds left as the Trail Blazers took a 97-80 lead into the final stanza.
The margin was 14 in the fourth before Jrue Holiday buried a 3-pointer and added a floater to make it 108-89 with 7:33 left.
Cissoko made two treys in 55 seconds, the second one giving Portland a 20-point lead with 4:53 to play as the Trail Blazers finished off an impressive victory.
Donovan Clingan collected 13 rebounds for Portland, which shot 44% from the field and made 19 of 50 (38%) from 3-point range. Toumani Camara had 12 points and Holiday and Scoot Henderson had 11 apiece for the Trail Blazers.
The Thunder also connected on 44% of their shots, though they wound up 8 of 22 (36.4%) from behind the arc. Gilgeous-Alexander shot just 8-for-22.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points in the first half, while Lillard had 12 before the break.
Oklahoma City led 71-70 after a basket by Mitchell with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter. Portland then ran off nine straight points and 18 of the next 22 to start pulling away.
