------ Damian Lillard scores 44 points as the Portland Trail Blazers enter the All Star break with a 123-117 win over the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night at Moda Center.
The Trail Blazers will enter the All Star break on a high note following their 123-117 win Wednesday night at Moda Center over the Golden State Warriors 123-117. With the win, Portland moved to within 2.5 games of third place in the Western Conference playoff standings.
Damian Lillard scored 44 points and eight assists as the Blazers overcame Kevin Durant's 50 points to secure the win. Lillard has now scored 133 points in his last three games, the highest point total for that span in franchise history. Lillard is also the first player in the league this season with at least 39 points in three straight games.
The Blazers led by as many as 20 points in the first half but Steph Curry's three-pointer tied the game at 99-99 with 7:10 to play. The Blazers responded with a 10-2 run to push their lead to 109-101. The Warriors would later close the gap to two-points at 117-115 before Evan Turner was able to extend the lead with two free throws.
The teams traded free throws before Durant nailed a three-pointer, but the officials said he stepped out of bounds. After the review, the call was confirmed and the Blazers closed out the game.
''It was obviously kind of a signature win for us this year so far,'' Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. ''We knew we were going to have to score points to have a chance to beat them and we made a lot of good plays. Dame was terrific from the start.''
Portland (32-26) got 29 points from CJ McCollum and 17 points and 13 rebounds from Jusuf Nurkic. Portland won the rebounding battle 49-41 and had a 17-9 advantage in second chance points.
Golden State (44-14) got just a combined 34 points from Curry and Klay Thompson on a combined 12-for-32 shooting.
Next up- The Blazers will now get rest during the All Star break. Their next game will be in Utah against the Jazz on Friday, February 23rd. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6:00 PM.
Chad's take- Rest up during All Star break Rip City. The stretch-run is going to be a wild ride in the West.