Trail Blazers use late rally to defeat Heat
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Trail Blazers outscored the Miami Heat 14-1 over the final three minutes in a come-from-behind 99-92 victory Saturday night at Moda Center.
Damian Lillard scored 19 points and Moe Harkless and CJ McCollum had 17 apiece for the Trail Blazers (11-10), who won with their second straight game.
Hassan Whiteside contributed 28 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots and Goran Dragic had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Heat (7-13), who saw their two-game win streak end.
Portland used a big free-throw advantage to take a 55-49 lead into intermission. The Blazers were 13-for-16 at the line; the Heat were 3-for-5.
Lillard and Harkless each had 11 points at halftime for the Blazers, who outscored Miami 34-20 in the second quarter. Whiteside was 7-for-7 from the field and had 15 points at the break.
Miami outscored Portland 11-2 to start the third quarter, seizing a 60-57 lead. The Blazers carried a 73-71 edge into the final period.
The Heat started the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to go ahead 82-75. Portland answered with a 7-0 spurt to tie it at 82-82 with 6:04 left.
Lillard's 3-pointer got Portland within 86-85 with four minutes to go. Tyler Johnson answered with a 3 to push Miami back ahead 89-85, and Whiteside's tip-in made it 91-85 with 3:03 to play.
McCollum sank a trey to cut the margin to 91-88 with 2:49 remaining. Harkless hit two free throws to draw the Blazers within 91-90 with 2:26 left. Moments later, McCollum scored on a drive to tie the count at 92-92. Harkless' layup gave Portland a 94-92 advantage with 1:22 to go, and McCollum's short jumper upped the difference to 96-92 with 58 seconds to play.
With Whiteside scoring 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting, the Heat had a 29-21 advantage after one quarter.
Portland outscored Miami 19-6 to open the second quarter to go ahead 40-35. The difference was six points at the half.
NOTES: Miami entered the game with only nine healthy bodies. Among the injured are four rotation players: F Justice Winslow (wrist), G Dion Waiters (groin), F Josh Richardson (ankle) and F Luke Babbitt (hip). "It simplifies things," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Everybody knows he is likely to get into the game. Play as hard as you can, come out when you get tired, and the next guy steps in." ... Portland F Al-Farouq Aminu (calf) missed his 13th straight game, but he went through a full practice session Friday and may return to action Monday at Chicago in the opener of a five-game road trip. ... The Blazers entered the game ranked among the NBA leaders in scoring offense (third, 110.8 points per game), free-throw percentage (fourth, .801), field-goal percentage (seventh, .460) and 3-point percentage (seventh, .363). ... Miami C Hassan Whiteside came in ranked among the top 10 in the league in rebounds (first, 15.1 per game), blocked shots (third, 2.56) and field-goal percentage (.559, ninth). ... The Heat are 2-7 at home but 5-5 on the road.