PORTLAND -- Sometimes you need to go above and beyond in order to break an extended losing streak. The Trail Blazers, both as individuals and as a team, did just that Friday night.
The Trail Blazers put up their highest-scoring half in over eight years, got a season-high in scoring from one player and a career-high tying effort from another to come away with a 125-116 victory versus the Charlotte Hornets in front of a crowd of 18,399 Friday night at Moda Center.
“This was a win with progress in a major way,” said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “I thought a couple of our last losses, we made progress. I’ve been saying that I feel like we’re getting closer to having a night. And tonight, we had a night, but it’s a process. We got better the last few losses. We played hard as heck, man. We played hard as heck and just couldn’t come out and get over the top. Tonight, we played hard on both ends of the floor and we were able to stop the bleeding.”
The Trail Blazers are now 12-18 overall and 11-7 at home this season. The win breaks a seven-game losing streak for Portland, their longest since 2015, and ties the season series versus the Hornets at 1-1.
Having lost seven-straight, with six of those losses occurring on their homecourt, and nine of their last 11, the Trail Blazers desperately needed to get back onto the winning side of things before heading out on a two-game road trip. And while they had played better recently, they still were unable to get over the hump.
But rather than go over, they just went through Friday night, scoring 81 points in the first half, their most points scored in a half since November 12, 2014, to take a 26-point lead into the intermission while setting a new franchise record for made threes in a half with 16. Damian Lillard, who looked like the feared scorer fans in Portland have come to know and love over the last 10 seasons Friday night, did much of the damage, scoring 17 of points and making three of his fourth three-point attempts in the first quarter.
“I've had a few games where I’ve come out and I’ve made my first couple shots and I end up not shooting the ball well,” said Lillard. “So I mean it was... I tried to come out and just play with pace. Just be in attack mode and I was it. It was the same situation as the last few games where we just needed to get a win. Tonight was that night.”
But Portland would need more than “Dame Time” to break an extended losing streak, and that assistance came from Ben McLemore, who made 7-of-9 shots from the field and 6-of-8 attempts from three for 20 points while playing the entirety of the second quarter.
“Playing free, playing my game, doing what I do best,” said McLemore. “Make shots, play my role, have fun.”
But as is often the case in the NBA after a team takes a commanding first-half lead, the Hornets were able to put a scare into the Trail Blazers in the second half. With Portland’s shooting falling off -- they went just 9-of-23 from the field and 2-of-11 from three in the third after shooting 64 percent in the first half -- Charlotte was able to cut the advantage to 17 by the start of the fourth.
That slide would continue in the final 12 minutes, with the Hornets slowly but surely chipping away at what was a comfortable lead. After leading by double-digits for most of the evening, Portland’s lead was cut to just six with just over a minute to play, but a clutch three from McLemore, which tied his career-high with eight made threes, and the team going 9-of-10 from the free throw line -- they lost an overtime game to the Suns a few days prior in part because they missed so many late-game free throws -- was ultimately enough to secure the nine-point victory.
“When you lose so many in a row, things start to go downhill,” said Lillard. It’s not as fun being in practice and watching film and having to keep coming back and coming up short and coming back and coming up short so to get this one, this is a big win for us. You know, we needed to feel good about something and getting a win usually does that. And now we got to roll with it. We got to make it turn into two and three [wins]. Just try to pick ourselves up and digging out of the hole that we've put ourselves in and tonight was a good start.”
STATISTICS
Damian Lillard led all scorers with a season-high 43 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field, 6-of-11 shooting from three and 13-of-14 shooting from the line while also handing out eight assists and grabbing four rebounds in 37 minutes. The effort was Lillard’s 40th game with at least 40 points, making him one of just 25 players to achieve that mark that many times.
Ben McLemore went 10-of-16 from the field and 8-of-13 from three for 28 points and two rebounds in 26 minutes. McLemore’s eight threes ties his career best.
Norman Powell finished with 14 points on 15 shots while also logging five assists and three rebounds in 40 minutes. Both Larry Nance Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic scored 10 points apiece. Robert Covington went for seven points and 10 rebounds in just under 32 minutes.
LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 27 points in 28 minutes. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 18 and P.J. Washington 16, both off the bench.
HIGHLIGHTS
NOTABLE
• The Trail Blazers scored 81 points in the first half, marking the first time that Portland scored 80-plus points in a half since November 12, 2014. It was the 16th time in franchise history that Portland scored at least 80 points in a half.
• Portland made a franchise-record 16 three-pointers in the first half (of 25, 64.0%). Their previous high for three-pointers in a half was 14 (twice, last 5/10/21 vs. Houston).
• The Trail Blazers tied their season high with 21 three-pointers (of 47, 44.7%). The Hornets shot 13-of-37 from deep (35.1%).
• The Trail Blazers snapped a seven-game losing streak and a six-game skid at Moda Center.
• Portland evened the season series against Charlotte, 1-1.
• Portland outrebounded the Hornets, 41-38.
QUOTABLE
“He was amazing. I saw Ben in Cabo this summer before we signed him and I was just telling him like ‘The way you just catch and shoot when people underneath you, chase you, contesting, we need those type of guys on our team’ and he was like ‘Hit me up.’” -- Damian Lillard on Ben McLemore
NEXT UP
After playing eight of their last nine games at home, the Trail Blazers hit the road for their next two games starting with a Sunday matinee in Memphis versus the Grizzlies. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
"break" - Google News
December 18, 2021 at 02:35PM
https://ift.tt/33Hlf4f
Trail Blazers Break Losing Streak Behind Big First Half Versus Hornets - Trailblazers.com
"break" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3dlJq82
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Trail Blazers Break Losing Streak Behind Big First Half Versus Hornets - Trailblazers.com"
Post a Comment