----- Damian Lillard scored 42 points and the Blazers used a dominant fourth quarter to top the Grizzlies 122-112 Wednesday night in Memphis.
Damian Lillard got the best of Ja Morant Wednesday night in Memphis.
With Jerami Grant (concussion) and Jusuf Nurkic (calf) leaving the game early, Damian Lillard knew he was going to have to crank-up the offense for the Blazers.
Lillard finished the night with 42 points and 10 assists on 11-of-22 shooting including back-to-back three-pointers late in the fourth quarter to give Portland the lead for good. He went 5-of-13 from beyond-the-arc and connected on 16-of-17 from the foul line.
Drew Eubanks three-point play off a transition dunk gave Portland a commanding 117-109 lead with 59.0 Seconds to play.
Anfernee Simons was clutch for the Blazers. He scored 14 of his 26 in the fourth quarter with a number of timely buckets.
With Grant and Nurkic out of action, the Blazers got quality minutes from Drew Eubanks, Gary Payton II, and Trendon Watford.
Grant scored 18 points in the first half before he exited the game.
Portland (25-26) outscored the Grizzlies 38-22 in the fourth and scored 28 points off of 13 Grizzlies' turnovers.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers travel to Washington DC to meet the Wizards on Friday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Damian Lillard is a cold piece!