----- James Harden scored 25 points and dished out 17 assists as the Brooklyn Nets upset the Portland Trail Blazers 116-112 Tuesday evening at Moda Center.
No Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, no problem for the Brooklyn Nets.
James Harden scored 25 points and dished out 17 assists as the Brooklyn Nets upset the Portland Trail Blazers 116-112 Tuesday night at Moda Center.
Jeff Green finished with 20 points, 15 in the first half and a pair of free throws to close it out with 4.8 seconds left. Nicolas Claxton had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Brooklyn, which played without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Damian Lillard led Portland (25-17) with 22 points and Enes Kanter finished with 19 points, 19 rebounds, and six assists. He finished with 10 offensive rebounds, one shy of the franchise-record.
Lillard and CJ McCollum struggled to make shots all night. They combined to shoot just 10-of-36 from the field including an abysmal 7-of-26 from three-point range. Even worse, the two made just 1-of-10 in the fourth quarter.
"Our sense of urgency and intensity on the defensive end has to be there, no question," Harden said. "I'm proud of the guys in the fourth quarter, because that's what won us the game. We have to have the intensity to be as great as we can be."
The Nets took advantage of the Blazers lack of size by scoring 64 points in the paint. Brooklyn made 49.4% of their field goals.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Robert Covington cut the Brooklyn lead to 105-103. With the Nets leading 114-111, the Blazers successfully challenged a call to set up a jump ball at the center circle.
Derrick Jones Jr. won the tip for Portland, which led to a Brooklyn foul against Covington with 7.8 seconds remaining.
Covington missed the first but made the second, making it 114-112, before Green sealed the win with two free throws.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers begin a four-game road trip Thursday in Miami against the Heat. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 PM.
Chad's Take- No KD, No Kyrie, and No Landry Shamet = missed opportunity for the Trail Blazers.