FILE – Damian Lillard #0 and CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers talk during a stoppage in play against the Brooklyn Nets during the fourth quarter at Moda Center on March 23, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Steph Chambers / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Damian Lillard scored 22 points and added 11 assists as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Toronto Raptors 122-117 Sunday night at Tampa.
CJ McCollum scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and had seven rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have won three straight road games.
9 DIMES in 1 QUARTER for DAME! 😮
2Q underway on NBA League Pass pic.twitter.com/5Bj6IekuHW
— NBA (@NBA) March 28, 2021
Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points for Portland. Robert Covington had 13 points and 12 rebounds, former Raptor Norman Powell had 13 points, Enes Kanter and Jusuf Nurkic each had 10.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points for the Raptors. OG Anunoby added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, Fred VanVleet had 20 points, Chris Boucher had 18 points and 11 rebounds, former Trail Blazer Rodney Hood had 13 points and Stanley Johnson had 11.
The Raptors were without Kyle Lowry (sore right foot) and DeAndre’ Bembry and Paul Watson Jr. (health and safety protocols).
The teams completed a trade on Thursday that sent Powell to Portland with Gary Trent Jr. and Hood going to Toronto.
👀 this Melo save & dime to Norm Powell for 3!@trailblazers 49@Raptors 53 pic.twitter.com/2zZGWQ73jn
— NBA (@NBA) March 28, 2021
The Trail Blazers, who trailed by as many as 11 points during the second quarter, outscored the Raptors 23-10 in the third quarter to lead by seven entering the fourth.
McCollum made a jumper and a free throw to bump the lead to 11 with 7:53 to go.
VanVleet’s 3-pointer cut the lead to one with 2:28 remaining. McCollum responded with a jumper and a layup for a five-point lead.
McCollum later hit a jumper and a free throw to increase the lead to seven with 44.4 seconds left.
VanVleet’s layup cut the lead to three with 22.6 seconds left. Powell made two free throws for a five-point lead. Siakam’s layup trimmed it to three with six seconds to go.
The Raptors led 41-32 after one quarter and led 74-68 at halftime.
Powell’s dunk put Portland into a one-point lead with 5:27 left in the third quarter. A layup by Jones capped a 14-0 run that gave Portland a seven-point lead with 1:08 left in the third. Portland led 91-84 after three quarters.