Field Level Media
Mar 16, 2018
Guards CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard combined for 53 points as the Portland Trail Blazers swept to their 11th straight victory, a 113-105 decision over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.
McCollum scored 29 points and Lillard added 24 for the Trail Blazers, who have won 17 of their past 18 outings at Moda Center.
LeBron James totaled 35 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Cavaliers, who have lost five of their past eight games. Kyle Korver added 19 points for Cleveland.
McCollum scored 15 points to help stake the Blazers to a 59-54 halftime lead. James had 22 first-half points for the Cavaliers, who were still in the game despite being outrebounded 25-17.
Cleveland whittled the margin to 65-62, but Portland used a 16-4 spurt to push ahead 81-66. The Cavaliers responded by scoring seven in a row to close the margin to 81-73. The Blazers carried an 88-77 advantage into the final period.
Portland extended its lead to 101-86 on a Shabazz Napier 3-pointer with 7:37 remaining. George Hill got Cleveland within 103-93 on a 3-pointer with 5:57 left. Lillard's step-back jumper made it 105-93 with 4:47 to play. Korver's layup cut it to 105-95, and James' driving layup drew Cleveland within 105-97 with 3:56 to go.
Hill scored on a layup to trim the difference to 105-99 with 3:25 remaining. When Hill buried a trey with 2:55 to go, Portland's lead was only 105-102.
Al-Farouq Aminu sank a trey and Evan Turner converted a floater to stoke the Blazers' edge to 110-102. Jordan Clarkson's 3-pointer cut it to 110-105 with 1:41 to play.
James blew a driving layup, and when Lillard sank three consecutive free throws with 28.8 ticks left for a 113-105 lead, it was over.
The teams battled back and forth through a tight first quarter that ended in a 29-29 tie.
McCollum scored eight points in a row as the Blazers seized a 45-40 lead midway through the second quarter. McCollum's 3-pointer stoked the margin to 55-46 late in the quarter. Portland settled for a five-point bulge going into intermission.
--Field Level Media