----- Jimmy Butler finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists and Kyle Lowry added 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range as the Miami Heat hammered the Portland Trail Blazers 119-98 Wednesday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler combined for 34 points and Bam Adebayo finished with 18 points and eight rebounds as the Miami Heat handed the Portland Trail Blazers their first loss of the season with a 119-98 victory Wednesday night at Moda Center.
Damian Lillard left the game in the third quarter with a calf injury and did not return. He led the Blazers in scoring with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
"It wasn't nothing that I was like overly concerned about, Damian Lillard said following the game. "but I just knew it didn't make sense to try and push through it for the fifth game of the the season, let's get to the back and see.
The Heat went up 81-70 on Butler's dunk midway through the third quarter. Without Lillard, the Blazers struggled offensively the rest of the way.
Portland (4-1) struggled to find good shots against Miami's aggressive defense. The Blazers connected on just 43.6% of their field goals and just 12-of-37 from beyond-the-arc.
Miami dominated with a 29-14 edge in fast break points and scored 29 points off of 19 Blazers' turnovers.
Shaedon Sharpe finished with game with 15 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
Miami made a season-high 15 three-pointers in the game.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will host the Houston Rockets Friday night at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- If Lillard can't play on Friday night, time to give Shaedon Sharpe the first start of his NBA career next to Anfernee Simons.