----- Damian Lillard scored 38 points and dished out seven assists as the Portland Trail Blazers take the season-series from the Los Angeles Lakers with a 106-101 victory Friday night at Moda Center.
Blazers deliver a body-blow to the Lakers!
Damian Lillard finished with 38 points and seven assists and Jusuf Nurkic added 10 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists as the Portland Trail Blazers moved ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference playoff standings with a 106-101 win Friday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
With the win, Portland (38-29) takes the season series from the Los Angeles giving them a one-game lead in the standings and the tiebreaker with just five-games to play. The Blazers will head into Saturday's meeting with the Spurs as the sixth place team in the Western Conference. The top-six teams in the standings avoid the NBA's Play-In tournament.
The Blazers came out quick in the first half taking a 34-20 lead before the Lakers closed the gap to 59-55 at halftime.
Markieff Morris' tip-in got the Lakers to within four at 89-85 with 7:21 left in the game but Lillard quickly answered with a three-pointer for the Blazers.
Davis' three and Alex Caruso's layup cut the deficit to 94-90 for the Lakers, and again Lillard responded with a three-pointer.
Portland went up 100-90 after CJ McCollum's three-pointer. Davis made a pair of free throws to make it 100-97 with 1:10 left but the Lakers couldn't catch up.
Notes- The Blazers welcomed fans to the Moda Center for the first time this season, at 10 percent capacity or about 1,900 people. The fans gave chants of "MVP" for Lillard and "Beat LA" when the Lakers took the floor.
Up Next- The Portland Trail Blazers will play the second of a back-to-back tomorrow night against the San Antonio Spurs at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Roses are red, violets are blue, Lebron is a crybaby, and headed for the play-in game too.