Trail Blazers 116, Nets 104
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Led by guard Damian Lillard outside and forward Ed Davis inside, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 116-104, Friday night at Barclays Center.
Lillard had 33 points and 10 assists, Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds, guard Allan Crabbe came off the bench to score 19 points, guard C.J. McCollum had 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds and forward Al-Farouq Aminu added 10 points for the Blazers, who stretched their winning streak to three games.
Center Brook Lopez had 25 points and seven rebounds and forward Joe Johnson and guard Donald Sloan scored 15 points apiece for the Nets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Forward/center Andrea Bargnani (12 points) scored on three consecutive possessions to open the fourth quarter, forward Thomas Robinson (season-high 11 points, 10 rebounds) followed with back-to-back putbacks and Bargnani pulled up from 18 feet to cap a 9-0 run and give the Nets a 92-86 lead with 8:41 left in regulation.
Portland roared right back. Lillard dialed up consecutive 3-pointers and scored 11 in a 19-2 run capped by a Davis dunk putback to give the Trail Blazers a 105-94 lead with 4:26 remaining.
A dunk in transition by Crabbe with 34.9 seconds left sealed the win for the Blazers.
The Nets pushed the ball inside early to Lopez, whose finger-roll layup gave Brooklyn a 12-4 lead. Lopez, who entered the game as the Nets' all-time leading scorer against Portland at 22.9 points per game, scored 18 in the first half.
After trailing throughout the first quarter, the Trail Blazers buried 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions on a 17-4 run capped by a driving layup by forward Ed Davis to take a 41-29 lead, their largest of the first half.
Johnson buried three consecutive 3-pointers to force the fourth tie of the game at 74-all with 5:14 left in the third quarter. An old-fashioned three-point play by Robinson gave the Nets a 79-78 lead, their first since early in the second quarter.
But Crabbe dunked in transition off a turnover, Lillard had a driving layup and Davis knocked down the first of two free throws to give Portland an 83-79 lead after three quarters.
NOTES: The game marked the return to Barclays Center for Portland C Mason Plumlee, who spent his first two NBA seasons with the Nets. As a regular starter for the Trail Blazers, Plumlee is averaging 9.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game and is one of three NBA players with 300-plus points and rebounds and 100-plus assists this season. "I think he's been a very good fit for us," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "He's athletic and mobile. I think it's been an adjustment more for him on the defensive end adjusting to our style of defense because he likes to use his athleticism and we're more of a conservative approach. Offensively, he's been given a lot more opportunity to do a lot of things and he's been pretty good at it." ... The Nets were without F/C Willie Reed (personal reasons), G Jarrett Jack (torn ACL), G/F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (fractured right ankle) and F Chris McCullough (right knee rehab). ... The Nets head to Atlanta on Saturday night. The Blazers go to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon for the second game in a three-game road trip.