FAST START PORTLAND SINK ATLANTA

Trail Blazers go aggressive in first quarter to stymie Hawks

THE Portland Trail Blazers continued their quest to secure the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 113-97 win over Atlanta, that also snapped a five-game losing skid to the Hawks.

Portland, who are trying to overtake the Denver Nuggets in the postseason race, led by 23 points just 10 minutes into the game and rolled to victory behind 27 points from Damian Lillard and 22 from fellow guard CJ McCollum.

“Well, the understatement is that the first quarter was really an outstanding quarter for us at both ends,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.

The Trail Blazers, who are 7-2 in March, made 13 of their first 15 from the floor and shot 76 per cent in the first quarter to 16 per cent for the Hawks while going up 40-18.

Ersan Ilyasova tallied 23 points. He started in place of Paul Millsap who experienced left knee tightness warming up and was a late scratch.

The Trail Blazers, who made 13 of their first 15 from the floor, shot 76 per cent in the first quarter to 16 per cent for the Hawks and led 63-46 at halftime.

“It was the first quarter that we couldn’t recover from,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

“I thought we were poor defensively. I thought we were poor offensively.”

Elsewhere, Cody Zeller scored 19 points and the Charlotte Hornets snapped a three-game losing streak with a 98-93 win over the Washington Wizards.

The Hornets trailed at halftime but built the lead up to as many as nine midway through the fourth quarter and then held for the victory.

The Wizards got as close as three in the final 20 seconds, but the Hornets’ Marvin Williams hit four free throws with less than 10 seconds left.

John Wall led the Wizards with 19 points and eight assists.

In Denver, James Harden had 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 109105.

Harden has 11 games of 40 or more points and did it on consecutive nights. He also notched his 19th triple-double of the season.

RESULTS: Golden State 117 Milwaukee 92, Houston 109 Denver 105, Chicago 95 Utah 86, Memphis 104 San Antonio 96, LA Clippers 108 Cleveland 78, Charlotte 98 Washington 93, Portland 113 Atlanta 97, Oklahoma City 110 Sacramento 94. AFP