Lillard scores 41 to lead Portland past Magic
ORLANDO, Fla.—Damian Lillard scored 34 of his 41 points in the second half, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Orlando Magic 128-114 on Thursday night.
C.J. McCollum had 22 for the Trail Blazers and Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Terrence Ross had 21 points off the bench and Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier had 17 apiece.
Lillard and McCollum re-entered the game with 7:54 left after Orlando cut a 13-point deficit to just 102-99 on Gordon’s second 3-pointer of the quarter. The guards combined to score 22 of Portland’s final 26 points to seal the win.
Lillard had 19 points in the third quarter, including 11 of the Blazers’ last 13. Magic guards D.J. Augustin and Jerian Grant chased him around the perimeter and into the lane, but never could catch him. He had three 3-pointers and five driving layups, before taking a break to start the fourth quarter.
However, Portland couldn’t shake the Magic, who trailed 91-80 going to the fourth period. But after Orlando cut it to three, Lillard and McCollum combined for eight straight points and Portland was back in front 110-99.
Backup center Zach Collins had 13 points in nine minutes to help the Blazers to a 58-48 halftime lead. He helped the Blazers overcome a slow start by Lillard (2 for 8) and McCollum (foul trouble).
Ross kept the Magic within striking distance with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The Magic kept pace offensively, but were a step slow at the defensive end and Portland beat them to the basket repeatedly.