Lillard Passes Aldridge, Blazers Clip Pelicans 122-110
Portland used a balanced effort, with six players scoring at least 11 points, to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 122-110.
With 3:54 to go in the first half, Damian Lillard nailed a patented pull-up three pointer. He passed LaMarcus Aldridge for second on the Blazers Leading Scorers list with that shot. Lillard finished with a team-high 24 points.
C.J. McCollum poured in 23 points while the Rodney Hood and Enes Kanter each scored 17 points. Zach Collins saw 23 minutes of action, scored 12 points and blocked four shots. Jusuf Nurkic fouled out with 11 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and a steal.
The Blazers trailed at the half, but surged in the second half. Portland outscored the Pelicans by 13 in the second half.
New Orleans kept the game within arms length because Julius Randle was on his game. The young big man filled up the stat sheet. Randle finished with 45 points (on 20-of-34, 58.8% shooting), 11 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals.
Notes
- Damian Lillard (12,584 points) only sits behind Clyde Drexler, who scored 18,040 in his Blazers career.
- Moe Harkless did not play against New Orleans; Rodney Hood started in his place.
- Evan Turner played 15 minutes after missing seven of the last nine games.
- Portland is now a half game behind Houston for the No. 3 seed and a half game ahead of Oklahoma City for the No. 5 seed.