Trail Blazers win 13th straight, beat Clippers
Portland Trail Blazers Jusuf Nurkic, left, of Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Maurice Harkless during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 18, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
LOS ANGELES — Damian Lillard scored 23 points and CJ McCollum added 21 to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to their 13th straight victory, 122-109 over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.
Portland’s dynamic guard duo led five Blazers players in double-figures, with Maurice Harkless scoring 21 points, Jusuf Nurkic 17 along with 12 rebounds and Al-Farouq Aminu adding 16 points.
Lou Williams led the Clippers with 30 points. Montrezl Harrell had 24 points and DeAndre Jordan had 16 rebounds for Los Angeles, which lost its third straight and fell two games back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Clippers have 13 games remaining.
The Blazers threatened to take a commanding lead at the break, going on a 12-0 run to take their biggest advantage of the half at 56-44. The Clippers responded to pull within four before trailing 58-52 at the half.
Portland, however, came back with a 10-0 run early in the third quarter, going up 70-56 to take a lead it would never surrender.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: There were some grumblings by some on the Detroit side after Portland’s win Sunday that the Blazers were playing a tad on the rough side, which amused veteran Portland coach Terry Stotts: “That could be the first time in my tenure that one of my teams has been accused of being overly physical. So I was pleased with those comments.”
Clippers: F Danio Gallinari remained out with a fractured right hand. There has been no medical update in a week, since the team said he had resumed running. He has also battled leg injuries and played in only 19 games this season. In a season when the Clippers have been ravaged with injury, coach Doc Rivers said his loss has been the most significant: “Overall, of the guys we’ve missed, it’s Gallo. It’s not even close.”
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Return home to play Houston on Tuesday.
Clippers: Start a four-game road trip on Tuesday in Minnesota.
