Lillard shines as Trail Blazers beat Thunder
FILE – Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers takes a shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth quarter at Moda Center on January 25, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Abbie Parr/Getty Images/AFP
Damian Lillard drained three clutch three-pointers in four possessions in the final quarter Tuesday, and the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers held on to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 115-104 for their fifth consecutive NBA win.
Lillard finished with 31 points for the Blazers, who charged out to a 24 point lead in the third quarter but allowed the Thunder back in it.
Lillard drained the first of his three threes with just over four minutes left in the final quarter as he and Gary Trent combined to score 12 unanswered points to extend the Blazers win streak to five straight games at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma.
Dame double-double! 👀@Dame_Lillard scores 31 PTS and hands out 10 AST in the @trailblazers win! #RipCity pic.twitter.com/h8l6tOL95X
— NBA (@NBA) February 17, 2021
Lillard scored 14 of his 31 in the fourth quarter as Portland made 20 baskets from beyond the arc.
Trent added 19 points and Enes Kanter had a game-high 21 rebounds.
Luguentz Dort delivered 23 points and Hamidou Diallo came off the bench to score 17 for the Thunder, who took the lead halfway through the fourth after holding Portland to two-of-13 shooting to begin the final quarter.
