The Portland Trail Blazers recovered from 17 points in the middle of the fourth period to win 125-124 over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night at the Moda Center.
Damian Lillard hit two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to give the Blazers the lead and put him on 50 points for the night. Then Zion Williamson lost a last-second spinning hook from the glass that hit the front of the rim and fell to the floor, leaving the Blazers with the win.
Lillard hit 13 out of 20 pitches and hit all 18 free throws of the night. He also had 10 assists.
The game marked the return of CJ McCollum after losing 25 games with a broken foot. He scored 10 points from 3 of 11 shots in 26 minutes and said he felt good, but at times he felt flat.
The Blazers had a lower lineup at the end of the game, in order to arrest the Pelicans and climb three.
The Blazers’ defense held the Pelicans to nine points in the final seven minutes.
“You don’t have a turnaround like that if you don’t play well at both ends,” said Portland coach Terry Stotts.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers (23-16) tied for fifth place with Denver (23-16).
It’s over when …
The Pelicans came out hot and never waned. They shot 50% in the first quarter, 47.8% in the second and 56.5% in the third. This helped them gain a 95-82 lead in the fourth period.
A Brandon Ingram three with 6:53 left gave New Orleans a 115-98 lead and the Blazers looked almost finished. But Portland did not give up and went on to a 15-2 run to return to the game on 117-113 after Trent hit a three with 3:30 remaining.
The teams met at 120-118 when Williamson turned in for a short shot that made the score 122-118 with just over a minute left. Lillard, who lost a three in the team’s last possession, came in, made a foul and made a tray on the glass.
His free-throw gave him 46 on the night, scoring 122-121 with 52.2 seconds remaining.
Williamson responded with a strong move inward and again the Pelicans led by three, 124-121. Lillard again missed a three and that led him to follow Williamson on the other end with 15.7 seconds remaining.
The Blazers had yet to score a penalty, so New Orleans received the ball and managed to burn 8.3 seconds from the clock before Ingram was fouled with the remaining 7.2 seconds.
Ingram missed both free throws to leave the score at 124-121 with 6.9 seconds remaining.
The Blazers took the ball to Lillard, who passed a deep trio and was knocked down by Bledsoe. That gave Lillard just two free throws with 5.2 seconds left.
Lillard hit both free throws and the Pelicans asked for time, taking 124-123.
In the opening play, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was hit in the hands with a Lonzo Ball pass, but left the field.
Portland took over with 4.2 seconds remaining. The Blazers took the ball to Lillard, who missed Eric Bledsoe while making a jump with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Lillard hit both free throws to give the Blazers the first advantage of the fourth period, with 125-124.
The Pelicans immediately took the ball to Williamson, who took the ball from the left side of the key, turned to the right and hit a hook with his left hand that came out of the glass and then the front of the ring and onto the floor.
The Blazers had a little luck with Ingram’s missed free throws and Alexander’s bobbled ball. But, give credit to the small Portland team for making the comeback happen.
“We played with a smaller team, which allowed us to open three, and also allowed us to be a little more aggressive in defense,” said Stotts.
SHOWN AND SHOWN
Gary Trent Jr. scored 22 points out of 6 out of 10 shots from the bench.
For the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram, who scored just 14 in the first encounter, had 30. Guard Lonzo Ball scored 11 points and made 17 assists. Williamson had 28 points and eight assists.
SHOWN AND FIZZLED
Carmelo Anthony got just 4 out of 10 to finish with nine points. But he also had six assists.
Nassir Little scored just two points in 17 minutes.
Anfernee Simons did not fail because he did not play. After playing well for the past two months while McCollum was away, Simons didn’t have a minute of action.
Stotts maintained a nine-man rotation. Rodney Hood, who has not beaten Simons this season, played 10 minutes and scored three points.
NEXT (Blazers Schedule)
The Blazers welcome Pelicans again on Thursday, before hosting Dallas on Friday and Sunday.
– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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