Rodney Hood Dazzles in 4th Quarter, Portland beats Charlotte 118-108

After a tough loss in Toronto Friday night, the Blazers bounced back for an important road win this afternoon, beating the Hornets 118-108. Rodney Hood was on fire in the fourth quarter scoring 21 points in the quarter for a total of 27 in the game. Hood, who struggled mightily during this road trip, had his best game as a Blazer shooting 9-14 from the floor including an absolute bomb from the Hornets half-court logo. Portland now improves to 5-1 on this extended seven game road trip.

Going into the fourth quarter the Blazers had an 83-80 lead, and after a Kemba Walker layup with 6 minutes to go, the Blazers lead was only 97-96. But from there it was all Portland, as they went on a 15-2 run to build a 112-98 lead and it was smooth sailing from there.

Jusuf Nurkic bounced back from a poor game Friday night, finishing with 26 points, while adding 15 rebounds to go long with 6 assists. Damian Lillard was his reliable self, finishing with 23 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Charlotte All-Star, Kemba Walker, struggled all game scoring 18 points on 5-21 shooting from the field. The Hornets bench is what kept them in the game, scoring 57 points led by Jeremy Lamb who scored 23 off the bench.

With the win, Portland improves to 39-24 on the year and they now have a half game lead on Oklahoma City for the 3rd spot in the west. Up next are the lowly Memphis Grizzlies, Tuesday night, as the Blazers wrap up this long seven game road trip.