Blazers stun Warriors
portland — Portland’s Damian Lillard scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a stunningly dominant 137-105 victory over the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors on Friday.
The Warriors lost for only the fifth time this season, and looked well below their best in their first game back from the All-Star break.
Golden State was one of three divisional leaders to lose on the day; Oklahoma City was beaten at home by Indiana, and Toronto was defeated by an undermanned Chicago.
In another key result, Miami won at Atlanta to leave the teams in a virtual tie atop the Southeast Division.
Portland’s CJ McCollum added 21 points for Blazers, who have won nine of 10 to improve to 28-27, the first time they’ve been over a .500 winning percentage since they were 3-2 on Nov. 4. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points and five assists but it was not nearly enough to prevent an end to the team’s 11game winning streak.
The Blazers used a stifling defense throughout the game, but especially in the third quarter when they forced the defending champions into 13 turnovers.
Indiana’s Monta Ellis scored 27 points to help the Pacers win 10198 at Oklahoma City. Paul George had 22 points and 10 assists for the Pacers. Kevin Durant had 31 points while Russell Westbrook contributed a career-high 18 assists for the Thunder, who suffered a surprising home loss after coming into the game with 14 wins from their previous 16.
Chicago shook off the absence of three players, and a five-game losing skid, to beat Toronto 116-106.
Doug McDermott had a careerhigh 30 points and Derrick Rose scored 26 points for a Bulls team minus Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah because of injuries. Kyle Lowry had 27 points for the Raptors. —