Trail Blazers 113, Raptors 97
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as visiting Portland handed Toronto its 10th loss in 12 games.
Damian Lillard had 23 points and five assists as the Trail Blazers defeated the Raptors for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings. Arron Afflalo scored 14 points and made four 3-pointers and Nicolas Batum had 10 points and 12 assists as the Trail Blazers won the opener of a five-game road trip.
DeMar DeRozan had 22 points and eight rebounds as Toronto fell three games behind second-place Cleveland in the Eastern Conference. Jonas Valanciunas scored 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds for the Raptors.
Toronto trailed by 14 points early in the fourth quarter and crept within 93-85 on a basket by Greivis Vasquez with 8:38 remaining. But Portland responded with eight straight points and Aldridge’s basket made it 107-89 with 4:11 remaining as the Trail Blazers remain in third place in the West.
The contest was tied at 47 before Batum drained a 3-pointer with 3:27 left in the half to conclude a 9-0 burst and the Trail Blazers possessed a 64-53 lead at the break. Lillard’s 3-pointer gave Portland a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter as it took a 91-79 lead into the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Trail Blazers were 13-of-29 from 3-point range. … Toronto SG Lou Williams added 11 points off the bench but was just 2-of-8 shooting. … Portland C Robin Lopez contributed 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.