NBA: Oshae Brissett, Pacers too strong for reeling Blazers
Oshae Brissett #12 of the Indiana Pacers dunks an offensive rebound against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at State Farm Arena on March 13, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP
Oshae Brissett collected 24 points and nine rebounds as the host Indiana Pacers recorded a 129-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Justin Anderson scored a season-high 18 points in his first start of the season for the Pacers, who finished with seven players scoring in double figures.
THE PASS.
THE FINISH!!!@StephensonLance 🤝 @Obrissy pic.twitter.com/6dCXeubwBL
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) March 20, 2022
Terry Taylor made all seven of his shots to match Jalen Smith with 17 points for Indiana, which enjoyed a 56-31 advantage in points from its reserves.
Buddy Hield, the lone Pacers starter to not score in double-figures with nine points, still managed to hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Goga Bitadze chipped in 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, while Brissett’s blistering 8-of-10 effort paced Indiana to a robust 57.1 percent average for the game.
The Pacers led wire-to-wire to send Portland to its fourth straight loss and 10th in the last 11 games. The Blazers are winless on their current, five-game road swing, which concludes Monday in Detroit.
Portland, meanwhile, shot 46.9 percent from the floor and just 27.3 from beyond the arc. Josh Hart went 3-of-5 from long range and finished with a game-high 26 points.
Rookie Trendon Watford added 17 points to score in double figures for the eighth straight game. He also had eight rebound and three assists.
Kris Dunn collected 11 points and nine assists and Drew Eubanks went for 12 points and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
The Pacers led 69-48 at halftime before the Trail Blazers began to chip away in the third quarter. Undaunted, Indiana put the game away by outscoring Portland 35-16 in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm Brogdon (rest) and Chris Duarte (toe) sat out for Indiana, which recorded its first back-to-back victories since Jan. 19-20.
