Worldly Blazers, Lillard show young Lakers how to win late
Damian Lillard scored 19 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter and the Trail Blazers won their 15th consecutive game over the Lakers, 108-103 in Los Angeles on Monday night.
Lillard scored 15 in a row for the Trail Blazers down the stretch, giving them a 104-103 lead with 1:08 left by knocking down 1 of 2 free-throw tries.
CJ McCollum had 22 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Julius Randle had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, whose winning streak ended at five games. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points, and Lonzo Ball had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Lillard was 5-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from threepoint range in the fourth quarter.
With the Lakers down three late, Isaiah Thomas had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds but was stripped by Shabazz Napier, who made two free throws. Thomas finished with 19 points.
The Lakers led 80-73 after the third quarter, with Randle scoring nine points and Caldwell-Pope adding seven. Caldwell-Pope knocked down backto-back three-pointers to put Los Angeles up by 12, the Lakers’ largest lead of the game.
Delivering on the defensive end, the Lakers held Lillard and McCollum to a combined six points on 2-of-13 shooting. Portland was 5-for-23 from the field, shooting 21.7 percent in the quarter.
Lillard went 12-for-25 for the game, including 6-for-11 from long range.
Spurs had 23 100, points, Grizzlies sparking 98: host Tony San Parker Antonio to a needed victory over Memphis before embarking on a difficult road trip. Memphis has lost 14 straight, but San Antonio had dropped eight of 10 and fallen from third to sixth in the crowded West. The Spurs moved up a spot to fifth ahead of Minnesota with the victory.
Jazz 94, Magic 80: Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead host Utah over Orlando. Gobert made 9 of 10 attempts, mixing in a jumper with mostly dunks and one-handers around the rim. Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Joe Ingles added 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Jazz, who have won 15 of 17. Still, the Jazz sit 1½ games outside the eighth West playoff spot.
Cavaliers 112, Pistons 90: LeBron James scored 31 points before taking a seat on the bench, and Larry Nance Jr. reached career highs with 22 points and 15 rebounds in his first start for Cleveland. Blake Griffin scored 25 to lead Detroit, which has lost nine straight away from home.
Celtics 105, Bulls 89: Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and Boston pounded host Chicago even though Kyrie Irving sat out because of a sore left knee. Even without their All-Star guard, the Celtics took control from the start and led by as many as 37 en route to their fifth win in six games. The Bulls lost for the 14th time in 17 games.
Heat 125, Suns 103: Hassan Whiteside had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Goran Dragic scored 17 and host Miami moved into the No. 7 spot in the East by topping Phoenix.
Pacers 92, Bucks 89: Bojan Bogdanovic tied his season high with 29 points and grabbed a key jump ball late to lift host Indiana.