------ Fred VanVleet scores finishes with 30 points and seven assists as the Toronto Raptors top the Trail Blazers Wednesday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
The Toronto Raptors brought their championship defense to Portland on Wednesday night and the Portland Trail Blazers paid the price.
Damian Lillard had his streak of 230-straight games scoring in double-figures snapped as Toronto held him to just nine points on 2-for-12 shooting en route to a 114-106 win Wednesday night. Portland has now dropped six of their last seven games and are just 1-4 at home on the season.
''They're really trying to guard from the start of the game to the end,'' Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of his team. ''I always talk about, can we execute our schemes, where we're supposed go, and they're doing pretty good job of that.''
With other guys struggling to find their offense, teams are focusing their defense on Lillard.
''It's the fourth team in a row to come out denying me full court," Lillard said. "Box-and-one, I don't remember seeing that many box-and-ones in the NBA, but I mean, they make me play against a crowd. Even when I try to get downhill and be aggressive, there's four guys right there. The right play is to kick it ahead, get it out, that was the only option they gave me a lot of times. It's just what it was.''
Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 36 points and Fred VanVleet finished with 30 points and seven assists. Toronto outscored the Blazers 50-22 in the paint, 18-10 in fast break points, and had a 50-43 edge in rebounding.
Rodney Hood returned after missing two games with back spasms. He led the team with 25 points on 9-for-15. CJ McCollum added 19 and Anfernee Simons scored 17 points off the bench.
Notes- Rookie Nassir Little got his first start of the season tonight. He played power forward next to Rodney Hood. He finished with seven points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers travel to San Antonio to begin a six-game road trip against the Spurs on Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 PM.
Chad's Take- Pascal Siakam > Mario Hezonja