The Trail Blazers opened up the month on a roll, starting with a big win in Seattle where Lillard dropped 41, and Giles 31 and 12. They proceeded to take down the slumping Suns to hit 50 wins, then blew out a trip of Eastern Conference teams.
W @ SEA 128-116 - RECORD: 49-8
W Vs. PHX 111-98 - RECORD: 50-8
W @ CHA 114-81 - RECORD: 51-8
W Vs. BRK 106-80 - RECORD: 52-8
W Vs. ATL 138-91 - RECORD: 53-8
McCollum's Buzzer Beater Three Caps Comeback Win Against Lakers
Portland 105, Los Angeles 103
Trailing by ten with less than four minutes to go in the fourth, it looked like the Blazers were going to suffer a rare home defeat at the hands of the Lakers. However, the chants of "beat L.A." never wavered, and for good reason. It was Lillard Time.
After shooting poorly all game, Damian Lillard caught fire, scoring 13 of his 28 points in crunch time. However, it was C.J. McCollum who was the hero of the game. Down 4 with forty seconds to go, Lillard stole an inbounds pass, but was forced to call their final timeout as he was heading out of bounds. Out of the timeout, Jonathan Simmons hit a three to trim the deficit to 1. Brandon Ingram wisely dribbled the clock down, but was forced by Al-Farouq Aminu into a bad three point shot attempt. Rudy Gobert grabbed the rebound, and with no timeouts left, threw it to C.J. McCollum, who calmly ran down the court and drilled a three point shot as the buzzer sounded.
The Rose Garden erupted with cheers. Despite a huge game from Ingram (33 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds), the Lakers were vanquished with an impressive run to end the game.
With the win, Portland's eighth straight, they improve to 54-8, clinching a better record than last season with 20 games still to play. The Lakers, meanwhile, take a hit in their bid for the 8 seed, falling to 29-33, a game and a half behind the Grizzlies.
Damian Lillard: 28 points, 9 assists, 4 steals, 4 rebounds
C.J. McCollum: 25 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, game winning 3pt field goal
Rudy Gobert: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5-8 FG
Brandon Ingram: 33 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 14-26 FG
D'Angelo Russell: 12 points, 5 assists, 6 fouls, 17 minutes
RECORD: 54-8
Make it ten wins in a row for the Portland Trail Blazers, who dominated the hapless Nets before overcoming a furious comeback from Goran Dragic and the resurgent Miami Heat.
W @ BKN 109-95 - RECORD: 55-8
W Vs. MIA 118-110 (OT) - RECORD: 56-8
The Hurt Lockers
With the playoffs just a month away, several teams are seeing key players go down at just the wrong time. Star players Russell Westbrook, Nikola Jokic and Ben Simmons are still sidelined, while other key players have gone down. KD and Marc Gasol are expected back before the start of the playoffs, but the availability of others is less clear.
Kevin Durant (LAC) - Left Knee Tendinitis - 2-4 Weeks
Dennis Smith (CHA) - Severe Right Ankle Sprain - 4-6 Weeks
Pau Gasol (SA) - Torn Left Calf Muscle - 6-8 Weeks
Marc Gasol (MEM) - Fractured Left Hand - 2-4 Weeks
Rodney Hood (UTA) - High Left Ankle Sprain - 6-8 Weeks
On ESPN: Warriors (40-26) @ Trail Blazers (56-8)
The Trail Blazers won the first two match-ups with the Warriors convincingly, but with the Dubs finally hitting their stride and Curry gaining on Lillard in the MVP race, this should be a good one.
Curry Drops 46 As Warriors Upset Blazers
Warriors 116, Trail Blazers 113
Those who bet on Damian Lillard winning the MVP award might be starting to sweat just a little. In a primetime match-up, Steph Curry thoroughly outplayed Lillard, ultimately carrying his team to the win.
The first half was closely contested. Curry and Draymond carried the load for the Warriors, while Wayne Ellington played solid defense in place of the injured Klay Thompson. Dominance on the boards kept the Blazers in it with Lillard struggling with his shot somewhat. In the third, Golden State pulled away, going up by as many as thirteen. Stotts subbed out Lillard, moving McCollum to the point and also bringing in the veteran Zach Randolph for Harry Giles. This worked wonders, as Portland closed the gap to 2 entering the fourth.
The Blazers continued to have all the momentum, eventually taking an eight point lead. However, that was when Steph took over. Hitting 7 of his 10 three pointers in the final period, the Blazers had no answer for him, while their offense began to sputter on the other end. McCollum kept Portland in it with his hot shooting, and with a minute left, it was tied. Curry sank a pair of free throws to put his team up 2, but C.J. answered with a three to take the lead. Doug McDermott blew a layup on the other end, and the Blazers found themselves with the ball and 30 seconds to go.
Damian Lillard let the clock run down, before passing to Evan Turner who put up a bad shot. The Warriors called timeout, and Portland doubled Curry. As a result, McDermott was able to redeem himself, sinking what would be a game-winning layup with 5 seconds left. With one last chance, McCollum had his layup attempt blocked as Curry went to the line for two more points to pad his stats.
The win is Golden State's eighth straight and moves the Warriors to 3.5 games behind the Clippers for the 2 seed and division title. It also means that Portland can do no better than tie their NBA record 73 regular season wins.
The Blazers have home court advantage through the playoffs all but locked up, but it does hurt Lillard's MVP chances. Steph Curry has missed a handful of games, but is otherwise having arguably the best statistical season in NBA history.
Stephen Curry: 46 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists
Draymond Green: 21 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists
C.J. McCollum: 33 points, 6 assists, 3 blocks (!)
Damian Lillard: 19 points, 13 assists, 4 steals, 8-21 FG
Zach Randolph: 13 points, 10 rebounds
RECORD: 56-9
A loss to the Grizzlies in Memphis closes the door for the Blazers tying the Warriors' 73-9 season. However, 70+ wins is still in play, as the team rattled off four wins in a row, including blowout wins over the defending champion Cavaliers, and the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets.
W @ CHI 101-91 - RECORD: 57-9
W Vs. LAC 110-93 - RECORD: 58-9
L @ MEM 110-106 - RECORD: 58-10
W Vs. BOS 103-91 - RECORD: 59-10
W Vs. CLE 118-83 - RECORD: 60-10
W Vs. DEN 116-90 - RECORD: 61-10
W Vs. CHI 110-95 - RECORD: 62-10