NBA: Damian Lillard puts up 42, Blazers fend off Hawks
FILE – Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts during the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Moda Center on January 23, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP
Damian Lillard registered 42 points and six assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 129-125 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
Jerami Grant scored 22 points and Anfernee Simons added 21 points and seven assists as the Trail Blazers closed out a 3-3 homestand. Lillard drained five 3-pointers and sank all 17 of his free throws while scoring at least 40 points for the eighth time this season.
Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 40 points and also had eight rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, who lost for the fourth time in the past five games. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 23 points and seven assists, John Collins scored 16 points and Clint Capela had 15 rebounds to go with 10 points for Atlanta.
Hawks star point guard Trae Young missed the game due to right ankle soreness.
Lillard became the second player in Trail Blazers history to reach 5,000 career assists. Lillard sits at 5,003, trailing only Terry Porter (5,319).
Dame and Dejounte dueled in Portland 🔥👀
Dame:
42 PTS, 6 AST, 5 3PMDejounte:
40 PTS (career-high), 8 REB, 7 AST, 5 3PMBlazers got the W 129-125. pic.twitter.com/xVpxIhBAjj
— NBA (@NBA) January 31, 2023
Lillard drove for a layup with 54.2 seconds left to reach 40 points and give Portland a 121-119 lead. Murray hit two free throws to achieve his career high of 40 with 41.6 seconds to play, tying the game.
Simons buried a 3-pointer with 34.4 seconds left to give the Trail Blazers a 124-121 edge. Bogdanovic was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 27.8 seconds left and made just one of three to leave the Hawks down by two.
Grant made two free throws with 23.9 seconds remaining and Josh Hart split two free throws with 10.9 seconds left to make it a five-point margin. Bogdanovic hit a trey to bring Atlanta within 127-125 with 5.7 seconds left.
Lillard sank two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to seal it.
Jusuf Nurkic had 12 points and Shaedon Sharpe tallied 10 for Portland, which shot 54.4 percent from the field, including 19 of 40 (47.5 percent) from 3-point range. Hart collected 12 rebounds.
AJ Griffin had 13 points and De’Andre Hunter scored 10 for the Hawks, who connected on 46.8 percent of their shots and made 13 of 30 (43.3 percent) from behind the arc.
Murray was fouled by Hart on a 3-point try with 1:37 left and hit all three free throws to bring the Hawks within 119-117. He was fouled by Lillard 31 seconds later and made both to knot the score.
Lillard scored 22 first-half points to help Portland take a 64-60 lead into the break. Murray had 20 in the half for the Hawks.
