McCollum, Blazers top Nets to snap skid
NEW YORK -- CJ McCollum scored 33 points as the Portland Trail Blazers clamped down defensively in the third quarter and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 129-109 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon.
Evan Turner added 19 for Portland while Damian Lillard contributed 18. Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard added 14 apiece as the Trail Blazers shot a season-best 57.6 percent and made a season high 15 3-pointers.
Brook Lopez made his first seven shots and scored 21 for Brooklyn, which lost its fourth straight game. Trevor Booker added 16 as the Nets lost for the fifth time in six games by allowing 100 points for the 11th time and shooting 26 percent in the second half.
The Trail Blazers led for the final 37 minutes but the league's second-worst scoring defense did not get the stops until after halftime.
In the decisive quarter Portland held the Nets to 20 points on 6-of-22 shooting. The Trail Blazers turned in their third-best defensive third quarter of the season and it enabled them to gain some separation from a six-point halftime lead.
Portland held the Nets without a basket for nearly five minutes and took a 97-78 lead in between Brooklyn baskets. McCollum hit two of his six 3-pointers during the decisive stretch and had 12 points during the third.
The Trail Blazers reached 100 points for the 13th time this season on their first possession of the fourth when McCollum scooped in a layup. After McCollum's 1000th career basket, Portland topped 110 a few minutes later and became the fourth straight opponent to get 120 on the Nets on two free throws by Shabazz Napier with 2:22 remaining.
Portland never trailed after Crabbe hit a 3-pointer late in the first quarter and briefly built it to 10 on another long range shot by Crabbe while Lillard rested. The Nets answered with nine straight points to get within 58-57 but a short bank shot by Crabbe with two seconds left gave Portland a 70-64 lead at halftime.
NOTES: Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson did not have an update on G Jeremy Lin (strained left hamstring). Lin was evaluated Thursday, two weeks after suffering the injury but the team did not give a timeline for his return and Atkinson only said Lin was "progressing well". ... Portland F Al-Farouq Aminu (left calf) missed his seventh straight game. ... Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts did not have an update on Aminu and also added he never asks for updates on injured players. ... Asked about G Damian Lillard's comments about the team being "close" to clicking following Friday's loss in New Orleans, Stotts said: "You never know, it takes work", while adding the talent and the character was present on the roster.