Lillard scores 30, Anthony 24 as Trail Blazers top 76ers 118-114
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard had 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 118-114 on Thursday night.
Carmelo Anthony added 24 points off the bench, including 16 in the fourth quarter, to help Portland win for the fourth time in five games.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 35 points and nine rebounds, while Ben Simmons added 23 points and 11 boards. The loss snapped a fourgame road winning streak.
The Eastern Conference-leading Sixers had won six of seven, with the only defeat during that span coming a week ago to the Trail Blazers, 121-105. It was just the second loss at home for the Sixers.
After a back-and-forth game, the 76ers held the edge going into the final period before Anthony hit three consecutive 3-pointers to give the Blazers a 102-97 lead with 8:28 left.
Anthony added a pair of jumpers that made it 108-101. The Sixers came back to narrow the gap to 108-107 on Seth Curry’s pull-up jumper and Simmons’ layup.
Tobias Harris’ free throws knotted the game at 109 before Gary Trent Jr.’s 3-pointer put the Blazers back in front. Lillard added a basket to make it 114-109 with 1:15 left.
Embiid’s pull-up closed the margin, then Curry’s 3-pointer tied it at 114 with 22.1 seconds left. Tripped by Harris, Anthony made a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Robert Covington got a deflection and steal on the inbounds play and Lillard made free throws to close it out.
Embiid came in averaging 29.1 points per game, good for fourth in the NBA. Lillard was third in the league, averaging 29.4 points a game with 13 of 30 or more points this season.
The Blazers jumped out to a 20-13 lead, hitting six 3-pointers. But the Sixers tied the game at 28 on Simmons’ short jumper, and pulled in front on Embiid’s dunk.
Portland regained the lead for a 37-36 edge at the end of the opening quarter.
Anfernee Simons’ floater gave the Blazers a 58-50 advantage with just under five minutes left before halftime. Blazers center Enes Kanter had to leave the game late in the half after he got knocked in the head by a teammate and was bleeding heavily. He returned in the second half.
Embiid’s dunk capped a 9-0 run that put the Sixers in front 59-58. His bank shot put Philadelphia up 63-60 at the break.
The teams wrestled the rest of the way. Danny Green’s 3pointer gave Philadelphia a 7569 lead, but the Blazers were able to stay close heading into the final quarter.