McCollum’s 40 points power Blazers past Bucks
Among his myriad highlights, a wicked move around Donte DiVincenzo that brought the Bucks rookie to his knees
CJ McCollum scored 40 points Tuesday as the Portland Trail Blazers cooled off the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks with a 118-103 NBA victory.
McCollum connected on 17 of 23 attempts from the field, including five of 10 from threepoint range, as the Trail Blazers improved to 8-3 and handed Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks just their second defeat of the season.
“It’s a great win for us,” said McCollum, who scored 19 points in the third quarter alone.
Among his myriad highlights, a wicked move around Donte DiVincenzo that brought the Bucks rookie to his knees.
“Whenever you see a rookie you’ve got to be aggressive, attack them, make them move their feet,” McCollum said.
It was a breakout performance for McCollum, who had struggled to find his shooting touch in the first 10 games of the season.
He added six assists and five rebounds as the Trail Blazers snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bucks.
“I just tried to be aggressive and take advantage and help the team get a win,” McCollum said.
Evan Turner posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, also handing out four assists for the Blazers. Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and Jake Layman also scored in double figures.
Antetokounmpo led a trio of Bucks players to score in double digits with 23 points, along with nine rebounds and six assists.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic scored 23 points to lead five Dallas players in double figures as the Mavericks snapped a sixgame skid with a 119-100 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Doncic, the 19-year-old Slovenian rookie, added six rebounds and three assists for the Mavs. Wesley Matthews added 22 points and Dennis Smith contributed 19 — making a trio of crucial plays down the stretch as the Mavericks thwarted Washington’s bid to rally in the second half.
“It’s been a long time since we won a game,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Feels good.”
The Wizards trailed by as many as 24 in the first half and were down 70-49 at halftime.
But they piled on the pressure in the second half, and trailed by just six with 5:33 to play when Smith got past Dwight Howard for an offensive rebound and fed DeAndre Jordan for a dunk that stretched Dallas’ lead to 101-93.
Less than a minute later Smith connected with Jordan on an alley-oop dunk, and Smith came up with a steal to feed Harrison Barnes for a threepoint play that pushed the Mavs lead to 106-93. “Resilience,” Carlisle said of what he saw from his team.John Wall led the Wizards with 24 points. Otto Porter Jr. and Bradley Beal had 19 each, although Beal struggled from three-point range, making just one of nine.
In Charlotte, Kemba Walker scored 29 points, and the host Charlotte Hornets pulled away from the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter for a 113-102 victory on Tuesday night.
The Hornets went on a 17-4 run early in the fourth to turn an 84-83 deficit into a 100-88 lead, and they went on to lead by as many as 15 points from there.
Marvin Williams played a key role in the rally, with eight fourth-quarter points, including two 3-pointers. He finished with 20 points for the game.
Walker came into the game averaging 28.0 points per game, fifth best in the NBA, but he had not hit his average in any of the previous three games. He finished the night 12 of 22 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point range. He also had seven assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The Hornets got 13 points apiece from Jeremy Lamb and Malik Monk, and 10 points from Nicolas Batum, who also hit a key 3-pointer in the fourthquarter surge.
The Hornets have won two straight and three of their past four. The Hawks have now lost five of their past six.
Jeremy Lin led the Hawks with 19 points. Trae Young had 18 points and 10 assists but scored only four in the second half. Kent Bazemore finished with 16 points, and Alex Len scored 12.
The Hawks led 25-23 after one quarter and 54-51 at halftime. The Hornets scored the first nine points of the third quarter and went on to lead 8177 after three. Atlanta led 84-83 after Alex Poythress’ 3-pointer with 10:04 remaining before the Hornets regrouped and went on their run. The Hawks were without Taurean Prince (ankle), John Collins (ankle) and Justin Anderson (leg). The Hornets continue to be healthy, and they have not lost a player to injury for any game this season.
The Hawks will return home to face the New York Knicks on Wednesday. The Hornets closed out a 3-1 homestand. They will open a three-game road trip tomorrow at Philadelphia.