Lillard, Blazers scuttle Spurs
SAN ANTONIO—Portland’s Damian Lillard scored a career-high 43 points, including 16 in the added periods, to lead the Trail Blazers to a 129-119 victory at San Antonio on Friday, handing the Spurs their second straight defeat in triple overtime.
The Trail Blazers moved within half a game of Memphis for second place in the NBA’s Western Conference, after the Grizzlies were beaten on their home court by Chicago.
Elsewhere, Denver hit late 3-pointers to prevail in a see-sawing contest against the Los Angeles Clippers, and Eastern Conference leader Toronto handed Detroit its 12th straight home defeat.
San Antonio became the first team to play consecutive triple-overtime games since the Baltimore Bullets in 1951, and frustratingly lost yet another close encounter, having dropped their previous two games by a combine three points.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 32 points and 16 rebounds, and Wesley Matthews added 16 points as Portland notched a fourth-straight win. Lillard scored the first nine points in the third overtime.
Tim Duncan had 32 points and 10 rebounds, and Danny Green added 27 points for San Antonio.
Chicago ended Memphis’ six-game streak with a 103-97 win, with Jimmy Butler scoring 31 points for the Bulls in a clash of divisional leaders.
Nikola Mirotic added a season-best 27 and Chicago snapped Memphis’ six-game winning streak.
Washington rallied to win 105-103 at Miami, which was left to rue its failure to take a late chance.
The Heat had a shot to tie the game with 11 seconds left, but Bradley Beal intercepted a pass by Dwyane Wade and made two free throws to clinch the win.
Denver’s Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari hit successive 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to give the Nuggets a 109-106 win against the Clippers.
Toronto scored a 110-100 victory at Detroit, with the Pistons extending their unwanted franchise record for successive home defeats to 12.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 17 points to lead a balanced Raptors offense.
Cleveland’s LeBron James scored 22 points as the Cavaliers squeezed out a 95-91 home win over Brooklyn.
Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and hit a key jumper with 38 seconds left to give the Thunder a 104-103 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Utah’s Derrick Favors had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the Jazz’s 101-94 win against Orlando.
Boston won 114-98 over Minnesota in the Celtics first game since trading away star point guard Rajon Rondo.
Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored a season-high 30 points to help the Hornets beat hapless Philadelphia 109-91 and end a four-game skid. AP
