Field Level Media
Jan 1, 2019
Jusuf Nurkic had a monster game, and the visiting Portland Trail Blazers rallied from a nine-point deficit with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to pull out a 113-108 overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Nurkic scored 24 points, grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds and also had seven assists, five steals and five blocked shots for the Blazers, who closed the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run.
Damian Lillard collected 25 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Seth Curry came off the bench to produce a season-high 18 points for Portland.
Buddy Hield scored 27 points and Nemanja Bjelica contributed 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Kings, who trailed by 14 points at halftime but stormed back to lead 101-92 with 3:10 remaining in regulation.
Lillard hit three free throws and a jumper to give Portland a 108-105 lead in the extra session. CJ McCollum's jumper made it 110-105, and he followed with a layup to up the lead to 112-105 with 1:04 left.
The Kings missed 15 consecutive field-goal attempts before Bogdan Bogdanovic (19 points) made a 3-pointer with 23.4 seconds remaining to cut the gap to 112-108. Nurkic split a pair at the line for a 113-108 lead with 13.6 seconds on the clock.
Nurkic (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Curry (15 points) led the way as Portland raced to a 64-50 lead at the half. Hield had 19 first-half points for Sacramento.
The Kings started the third quarter on a 20-9 tear to draw within 73-70. The Blazers carried an 83-77 lead into the final period.
McCollum scored on a turn-around jumper and Lillard followed with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 101-97. Sacramento's D'Aaron Fox scored on a drive to make it 103-97 with 2:03 to go. Nurkic hit a pair of foul shots to pull the Blazers to within 103-99 with 1:25 to play.
Lillard scored on a drive to make it 103-101 with 46.2 seconds remaining. After a Kings miss, Lillard scored again on a drive to tie it at 103-103 with 15.5 seconds to go. Fox's jump shot bounced off the rim as time expired, and it was on to overtime.
--Field Level Media