NBA: Damian Lillard leads Trail Blazers past Thunder

By the Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — It wasn’t as dramatic as the end of his last game against Oklahoma City, but Damian Lillard still reminded the Thunder what time it was — Dame Time.

Lillard had 23 points and 13 assists to help the Portland Trail Blazers hold off Oklahoma City 102-99 on Wednesday night.

In last year’s first-round playoff matchup between the teams, Lillard’s deep 3-pointer over Paul George won Game 5 and the series. This time, after making just 4 of 15 shots the first three quarters, Lillard made three 3-pointers in an 86-second flurry in the fourth that turned a three-point deficit into a five-point lead.

Lillard rested to start the final period and mapped out his strategy.

“The whole time I was sitting on the bench, I knew I was going to come in and try to keep it in my hands a little bit more and try to impose my will on the game a little bit more,” he said. “And it worked out.”

The Trail Blazers led the rest of the way.

The Thunder have been competitive in their losses, but they haven’t had a scorer like Lillard step up at critical moments to get them over the top.

“I was telling the guys postgame that’s why guys get paid the big bucks — to make big shots like that in the fourth quarter,” Thunder guard Chris Paul said. “Dame got it going.”

C.J. McCollum scored 22 points and Kent Bazemore added 14 for the Trail Blazers.

Paul scored 21 points, Dennis Schroder scored 17 and Nerlens Noel added 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.

Portland led 49-44 at halftime. The Trail Blazers shot 38.1% in the first half while the Thunder shot 35%. Lillard made just 2 of 8 shots in the first half and scored seven points.

A 3-pointer by Paul tied the game at 53 early in the third quarter, and then he made a jumper to put the Thunder ahead by two. The Thunder took a 69-68 lead into the final period.

Diallo grabbed three offensive rebounds on one possession before finally scoring to put the Thunder up 79-76, and Mike Muscala’s layup on an assist from Paul put the Thunder up by five before the Trail Blazers rallied.

“It was an ugly game,” Lillard said. “Both teams turned it over, missing shots, a lot of bad possessions, low-scoring. So you knew it was going to come to the last five, six minutes.”

Pacers beat Nets for first victory of season

In New York, Domantas Sabonis and the Indiana Pacers finally got their first victory of the season.

Sabonis scored 29 points, Jeremy Lamb added 25 and Indiana Pacers beat the Brooklyn Nets 118-108 on Wednesday night for their first victory in five games.

“(Sabonis) was a monster down there,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “Just defending, rebounding, initiating offense. Had to play a lot of minutes, but was fired up and I thought we rode his energy.”

Sabonis carried the frontcourt load when Myles Turner left the game after spraining his right ankle in the first quarter.

“It’s tough,” Sabonis said about losing Turner. “Because it’s the beginning of the season, we’re also trying to find each other and find that chemistry and play together, and obviously he’s going to be out for a little bit. It’s tough. I wish him a speedy recovery. When he comes back he’s going to help us, he’s the best defender in the league.”

Malcolm Brogdon added 21 points and 13 assists for Indiana.

Kyrie Irving led Brooklyn with 28 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 and Caris LeVert 15. The Nets have lost two in a row to fall to 1-3.

“We’re not really running anything (on offense),” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “In training camp you’re practicing a lot, but you have a nice flow, you kind of know what you’re doing. I think we’ve lost a little bit of our structure and organization, which is natural with a new team and new guys.”

The Pacers took their largest lead at 112-96 on Brogdan’s 3-pointer with 4:43 remaining. Indiana took a 90-83 lead into the fourth quarter, with Sabonis and Lamb each scoring seven points in the third.

With three new starters in Irving, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince, the Nets have become more of an isolation team than the cohesive group from a season ago.

“Basketball has a way of being sequentially sound or it can be sequentially off completely,” Irving said. “Be able to weather the storm out there. Some possessions are not going to be perfect. We want to limit the mistakes out there where you have opportunities to attack the basket, shoot threes and get everyone confident. Wins and losses come and go. It just gives us a chance to dive into practice and really take it day by day. The details are really what separates the good and the bad teams in the league.”

Source: Manila Bulletin