Portland Trail Blazers trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half before rallying late in the second half to beat the Charlotte Hornets at home in the Moda Center, 102-100.
Damian Lillard had 29 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds to lead the Blazers to a win. Wesley Matthews had 16 points and 7 assists and Alan Crabbe, a second-year player out of Cal University, made his first NBA start in Nicolas Batum’s place but only had 2 points. LaMarcus Aldridge added 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Blazers who are now 5-1 at home early in this season have also won 4 of their last 5.
The Blazers were without Batum, who injured his knee on Sunday in the final minutes of Portland’s 116-110 home win over the Nuggets.
Al Jefferson scored 22 points but only grabbed 2 rebounds while Lance Stephenson had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets. Kemba Walker contributed 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for Charlotte, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 12 points and 5 rebounds. Reserve guard Brian Roberts had 12 points in 12 minutes for the Hornets.
The Blazers took their first lead of the game at 97-96, after Steve Blake hit a 3-pointer assisted by an Aldridge tipped in his direction with 3:04 left. Portland stayed in front, going up 102-98 with 14 seconds remaining. After Hornets’ Gary Neal made a layup, Portland’s All-Star Damian Lillard missed a running three and Charlotte managed to get the ball with 3.5 seconds left. Neal made a layup at the final buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, but the refs reversed the call after a review.
The Trail Blazers are 5-3 and the Hornets are 3-5.
Full Game Highlights.
https://youtu.be/EzEDUnI1s8c
