----- Damian Lillard scores 30 points as the Portland Trail Blazers snap a four-game losing streak with a 124-113 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks Sunday night at Moda Center.
It wasn't pretty, but the Portland Trail Blazers did enough to outlast the Atlanta Hawks 124-113 in Overtime Sunday night at Moda Center.
"We needed it," Portland Coach Terry Stotts said about the victory. "No matter how we got it, we got it."
After a sloppy first half from both teams, the Hawks opened up a five-point lead at 68-63 in the third quarter before Anfernee Simons came to the rescue for the Blazers.
Simons scored 12 of his 20 points in the third on 5-of-6 shooting including a driving layup at the end of the third to even the score at 75-75. Simons even got a three-point shot at the end of regulation with .7 seconds remaining, but the shots bounced off the rim pushing action into overtime.
Kent Bazemore nailed back-to-back 3-pointers in the extra period giving Portland the cushion they needed to get the win.
After scoring a franchise-record 60 points in a loss to Brooklyn on Friday night, Damian Lillard scored 30 and had plenty of help from his teammates.
CJ McCollum broke out of his shooting slump scoring 23 points on 11-for-23 shooting, Hassan Whiteside scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and Bazemore added 13 points and eight rebounds.
“It was huge,” Damian Lillard said of Bazemore’s effort. “Tonight, he had the assignment with Trae Young and (Young) had the ball in his hands pretty much the whole game – chasing him off screens, finding him in transition – just that type of effort is tough. He was there all night. And down the stretch, he was rewarded for his effort and for him to lock in like that – two big threes. But like I said, I think his effort on the defensive end and him taking that challenge was really big. I think it got his mind into the game and it was perfect. It came against his former team, and in a game that we needed.”
Notes- Lillard broke the franchise record for points scored through the first 10 games of the season. Portland played without Rodney Hood tonight (Back Spasms). His status for Tuesday night is unknown at this time.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will travel to Sacramento for the first of a back-to-back Tuesday night against the Kings. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Anfernee Simons is worth the price of admission.