Field Level Media
Apr 4, 2019
Enes Kanter, Damian Lillard and Evan Turner led the way as the Portland Trail Blazers rolled to 116-89 victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
Kanter collected 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Lillard scored 20 points and dished out 10 assists for the Trail Blazers, who have won 11 of their past 13 games. Turner registered his second straight triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in 28 minutes off the bench.
The Blazers (50-28) maintained their spot in fourth place in the Western Conference a half game behind the third-place Houston Rockets, who crushed the Los Angeles Clippers 135-103 on Wednesday.
Chandler Parsons scored 16 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost seven of their last 10 outings. Memphis (31-47) suited up only 10 players due to numerous injuries.
Portland shot 51.1 percent from the field despite making only 10 of 31 attempts from the 3-point arc (32.3 percent). The Blazers had a whopping advantage in rebounds (54-32) and points in the paint (68-34) against a Memphis team that had no true centers available.
The Grizzlies shot only 38.8 percent from the field and were 11 of 33 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Lillard had 14 points and seven assists and Kanter scored 13 points to stake Portland to a 62-59 halftime lead.
Portland started the third quarter with a 7-0 spurt to go ahead by 10. The Blazers increased the difference to 84-66 late in the quarter. It was 86-69 heading into the final period.
The Blazers jacked their edge to 104-75 with 6:50 remaining. The Grizzlies got no closer than 23 points the rest of the way.
Memphis led 30-28 after the first quarter despite Portland shooting 56.8 percent from the field (10 of 17) in the quarter.
The Grizzlies scored the first eight points of the second quarter to extend their advantage to 38-28. It was still 50-40 midway through the second quarter. Portland closed on a 22-9 run to seize a three-point lead at the break.
--Field Level Media