Trail Blazers at Hornets
The Portland Trail Blazers nearly made it five straight wins to begin their seven-game road trip before falling 119-117 at Toronto on Friday. The Trail Blazers, who already knocked off Eastern Conference playoff contenders Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Boston on the trip, will try to bounce back against a team hanging onto the bottom of the top eight when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Portland fell to 14-16 on the road with Friday's loss but came away pleased with how it competed. "That was a really good basketball game," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. "Two good teams played a very good game. I like the way we competed, getting down 16 on the road against a team like that and make a comeback, take the lead. Obviously, it's disappointing to lose the game but I liked the way we competed." The Hornets are competing for a playoff spot and earned a rare road victory with a 123-112 triumph over a team ahead of them in the standings at the Nets on Friday, snapping a three-game slide. "We weren't perfect, but we've been battling - even from the last game against these guys to the Golden State game to the Houston game, we've been right there," Charlotte coach James Borrego told reporters, referencing the three-game slide which came against Brooklyn, Golden State and Houston. "I think tonight these guys deserved to win and they went and got it."
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (38-24): Shooting guard CJ McCollum did all he could to push Portland on Friday and finished with 35 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. McCollum is struggling to find consistency with his shot on the trip and went 2-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first two stops but knocked down 7-of-8 at Cleveland and slumped again to 1-of-8 at Boston on Wednesday before going off against the Raptors. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc on Friday after going 9-of-33 in the first four stops on the trip.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (29-33): Power forward Frank Kaminsky had drifted so far down the bench that he requested a buyout prior to March 1 so that he could join a different team in time to be eligible for the playoffs, but Charlotte declined. Instead, Borrego decided to give Kaminsky a chance on Friday and he responded with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. "He was fantastic," Borrego told reporters of Kaminsky. "You've got to give Frank a lot of credit. It's been a frustrating year for him, I understand that, and he stayed ready. He kept doing his work and we went to him and he delivered tonight. He was fantastic. We probably don't get this game done without Frank. You never know when your opportunity is going to come and he stayed ready and stayed consistent in his work, and tonight it paid off."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Trail Blazers C Enes Kanter did not travel with the team to Toronto due to visa issues but is expected back on Sunday.
2. Hornets SF Nicolas Batum is averaging 16.4 points over the last five games, raising his season mark to 9.9.
3. Portland is enjoying a four-game winning streak in the series and crushed Charlotte 127-96 at home on Jan. 11.