Blazers spoil Lillard’s return to Portland, Durant’s Suns eclipse Nets
Damian Lillard’s emotional return to Portland opened with an ovation and ended in defeat as the Trail Blazers held off the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday.
Lillard was playing his first game in Portland since the September trade that sent him to Milwaukee after he spent his first 11 NBA seasons as a Blazer.
Greeted by a massive standing ovation and feted with a video tribute, Lillard felt the love, but the Bucks endured a second straight defeat under new head coach Doc Rivers, who was brought in after the abrupt dismissal of Adrian Griffin despite their position at second in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics.
Anfernee Simons, once mentored by Lillard in Portland, led the Trail Blazers with 24 points and made a floater that gave them the lead for good with 17.6 seconds to play.
Lillard had thrown down a dunk and fed Giannis Antetokounmpo for alley-oop dunk that put Milwaukee up 116115 with 37.9 seconds remaining.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 27 points and Lillard added 25, but after Simons’ go-ahead basket the Bucks couldn’t find a way to score and Jerami Grant sealed it at the free-throw line.
“It was kind of weird, first time ever playing in an actual game against him,” Simons said. “But it was fun. Obviously he plays the same way against anybody, he’s got the same demeanor. But I’m pretty sure it felt a little bit different tonight.”
Kevin Durant made a triumphant return to Brooklyn, scoring 33 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 136-120 victory over the Nets. Durant received a warm welcome in his first game in Brooklyn since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Phoenix last season. Fans cheered his introduction and the Nets played a video tribute.
The cheers turn to boos as Nets fans got frustrated but the Suns, up by three at halftime, quietened the Barclays Center crowd with an explosive fourth quarter, Durant scoring 11 points in the period as Phoenix outscored Brooklyn 42-26 to take control.
Jusuf Nurkic scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the
Suns and Devin Booker added 22.
“It was cool,” Durant said of being back in Brooklyn, where the dream that he would combine with Kyrie Irving and James Harden to take the Nets to a title, fizzled.
Now the Suns are hoping a big three of Durant, Booker and Bradley Beal can help them contend for a title, and Durant said his experiences in Brooklyn – like those of his current teammates elsewhere – can only help their cause.
“Everybody’s been through a lot of things in our locker room, in this league, switching teams, injuries all that stuff,” Durant said. “We’re bringing all that together and we try to use that experience and that knowledge to make us a better team.”