Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 96
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Guard Damian Lillard's 14 third-quarter points were the impetus for the Portland Trail Blazers' 115-96 romp past the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at the Moda Center.
Lillard scored a game-high 27 points, raining in seven of 11 shots from beyond the arc, while guard CJ McCollum added 20 points as the Trail Blazers (4-2) won their third consecutive game.
Guard Courtney Lee led Memphis (3-3) with 18 points. Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, and center Marc Gasol added 15 points.
Portland outscored Memphis 40-25 in the third quarter to turn a tight game into a rout. Overall, the Blazers shot 50.6 percent from the field, sank 15 of 30 shots from 3-point range and outrebounded the Grizzlies 47-36.
Trailing by four points at half, Memphis got even at 62-62 midway through the third quarter. Lillard then buried long 3-pointers to start and finish a 12-1 run that pushed Portland ahead 74-63.
The Blazers' advantage was 88-69 after another pair of Lillard bombs from beyond the arc, and forward Ed Davis' runner at the buzzer took Portland into the fourth quarter with a 90-71 edge.
When Lillard knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the game to give the Blazers a 95-71 lead, it was over.
Memphis ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 23-18 lead into the second period. Lillard and McCollum were a combined 1-for-9 shooting in the quarter.
Lillard and McCollum hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Plumley had a follow dunk in an 8-0 run that carried Portland into halftime leading 50-46. Lee had 12 points for the Grizzlies at the break.
NOTES: Portland F Meyers Leonard, who sprained his ankle and missed the second half of Tuesday's game at Utah, started for the Blazers on Wednesday. He finished with 14 points and five rebounds. ... Memphis C Marc Gasol, who has dealt with neck spasms for the past couple of weeks, started at Portland. ... Blazers F Ed Davis, who played a season and a half with Memphis in 2012-13 and 2013-14, said a game against the Grizzlies is particularly meaningful. "The team that gave up on me, with the same coach there?" he said. "Yeah, I take that personal." He scored nine points Thursday. ... Memphis coach Dave Joerger, on how to stop Portland's high-scoring guard tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who entered the game averaging 50 points between them: "We'll let them score and make sure nobody else gets any. If they get 100, awesome."