The Portland Trail Blazers received a season-high 39 points from Damian Lillard while defeating Philadelphia 118-111 Saturday night at the Moda Center.
The victory pushed the Blazers (9-8) back over .500 for the first time since being 3-2 on Oct. 29.
Lillard, whose previous season-high for points was 28, went 10 of 21 from the field and 14 of 14 at the free-throw line. His 7-of-7 performance at the line Wednesday against Chicago was his previous season-high for both attempts and makes.
“He earned every single one of those free throws tonight,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. “I think this is kind of what people are accustomed to seeing when he attacks. Him getting double-figure free throws. This is the first time this year he’s been able to do that. He knocked them all down. I just thought he attacked all night. Even when they showed him two people, he made the right pass. It was good for him to have a night like this.”
Lillard, after a horrendous start to the season, has slowly been returning to his All-Star caliber form. He is 64 of 141 from the field (45.4%) over the team’s last seven games while averaging 26.4 points per game.
“I think over the last two weeks or so, last five or six games, I’m just starting to feel better,” Lillard said. “At least as good as I could possibly feel. But it’s just getting better and better. I still don’t feel completely in form but I do feel myself getting there.”
Lillard also had seven assists. CJ McCollum scored 18 and Norman Powell added 17. Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey each had 28 for Philadelphia (9-8).
The Blazers shot 50% from the field and 44.1% on threes.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers have now won three consecutive games after returning him from a 1-3 road trip.
“I think we’ve been playing hard, playing with the right intensity, playing together,” Nassir Little said. “So, I think we’ve been for the most part doing everything we need to do.”
GAME RECAP
When The Blazers lost 113-103 at Philadelphia on Nov. 1, Lillard struggled to get his shot going, making just 7 of 20 attempts and 2 of 9 threes.
Saturday, Lillard was a far different player. He began the game by going 5 of 9 in the first quarter for 12 points and the Blazers led 30-25 at the end of the quarter.
Lillard slowed down in the second quarter but CJ McCollum scored 10 and the defense dominated the 76ers, holding them to 35% shooting and 1 of 8 on threes.
Portland led 55-46 at halftime with McCollum having scored 18 and Lillard, 17.
The Blazers looked like they were going to blow the game open for good in the third quarter when an 18-7 run gave the Blazers an 82-64 lead with 3:19 to go in the quarter. Highlighting the run were threes from Lillard and Anfernee Simons.
But Philadelphia closed the quarter strongly to trail just 86-78 going into the fourth. There, the 76ers got to within 86-82 when Georges Niang scored on a four-foot shot. The Blazers got things going again on offense, however, and led 97-88 when Nassir Little threw down a powerful dunk with 7:51 on the clock.
Once again, the 76ers made a run, this time reducing their deficit to 97-95 with a 7-0 run.
From that point on, however, the Blazers were able to regain control of the game and maintain it. Lillard’s two free throws with seconds remaining gave Portland a 118-111 lead.
Billups said the Blazers were a lot more focused and locked in Saturday night than they were in the previous meeting against Philadelphia.
“We didn’t have as many miscues, defensively,” Billups said. “And offensively I thought we took better shots. We moved the ball a lot better in our halfcourt sets. We turned down good shots and got great shots a lot of times.”
NEXT UP
The Blazers conclude their four-game homestand Tuesday against Denver (9-5). Then the Blazers will head out on a three-game trip beginning Wednesday at Sacramento before heading to Golden State on Friday and then Utah on Nov. 29.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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