Field Level Media
Mar 10, 2019
CJ McCollum scored 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting as the Portland Trail Blazers pulled out a 127-120 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Seth Curry came off the bench to match his season high with 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who ended their two-game losing streak. Damian Lillard added 18 points and nine assists and Jusuf Nurkic contributed 14 points and nine rebounds for Portland.
Devin Booker scored 23 points and DeAndre Ayton collected 21 points and eight boards for the Suns, who had won three in a row. Kelly Oubre had 17 points and seven rebounds for Phoenix.
The Blazers, who have won 10 straight games against the Suns, shot 50 percent from the field and .448 (13-for-29) from 3-point range. The Suns, who scored 31 points on 17 Portland turnovers, shot .417 from the field and only .333 (9-for-27) on 3-point attempts.
McCollum hit 6 of 7 shots and scored 13 points as Portland carried a 66-47 lead into halftime. Nurkic had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers. Ayton totaled 12 points and seven boards for the Suns in the half.
The difference was 80-56 early in the third quarter. Phoenix cut the deficit to 93-77 late in the quarter. Portland's lead was 102-77 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Blazers upped the margin to 109-80 early in the final period. The Suns drew to within 116-99 with 4:46 remaining, then closed to within 123-118 in the final seconds. Curry's two free throws with 7.3 seconds left wrapped it up.
Phoenix jumped in front 13-8, but Portland took a 24-23 lead after one quarter despite shooting only .308 (8-for-26) from the field.
The Blazers put together an 11-0 run to go ahead 35-25. Back-to-back dunks by Nurkic and Moe Harkless increased Portland's advantage to 49-36.
--Field Level Media