McCollum leads Trail Blazers past Nets
PORTLAND, Ore. -- CJ McCollum scored 31 points and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 130-116 on Saturday night at Moda Center.
Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in 23 points and Damian Lillard collected 19 points and 11 assists for the Trail Blazers (26-35), who won their second straight game with their highest point total of the season.
Brook Lopez scored 26 points and Sean Kilpatrick came off the bench to contribute 20 points for the Nets (10-51), who lost for the 18th time in 19 outings.
The Blazers shot .570 from the field, including 16 for 25 (.640) from 3-point range.
Portland shot .590 from the field -- 6 of 10 from beyond the arc -- but managed only a 58-57 lead at halftime.
McCollum scored 12 points and Aminu 10 for the Blazers, and Kilpatrick had 14 for the Nets.
The Blazers extended their advantage to 83-71 late in the third quarter. The Nets scored seven straight points to get within 83-78, but the Blazers took a 90-82 lead into the fourth quarter.
Brooklyn cut the difference to 103-97, but Portland answered with an 8-3 run for a 111-100 advantage. The Nets got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The Blazers, benefiting from eight Nets turnovers in the first eight minutes, jumped to a 23-14 lead. They increased the margin to 33-22 and settled for a 37-27 advantage after one quarter.
Portland extended the lead to 44-29, but Brooklyn used a 22-8 spurt to cut it to 53-51. The Blazers carried a one-point edge into intermission.
NOTES: Brooklyn G Joe Harris is out indefinitely after suffering a concussion during the Nets' loss at Utah on Friday night. ... In his first six games in a Portland uniform, C Jusuf Nurkic has averaged 14.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. ... In the five games since the All-Star break, Portland G Damian Lillard is averaging 29.7 points. ... Lillard, who was 2 of 6 on 3-point attempts, tied the franchise season record held by Cliff Robinson (1995-96) by making a 3 in his 41st consecutive game. ... Portland G CJ McCollum has scored in double figures in 51 straight games. ... Portland entered the game ranked No. 26 and Brooklyn No. 28 in the NBA in defensive efficiency rating.