C.J. McCollum scored 31 points, Al-Farouq Aminu added 23 points, as the Portland Trail Blazers staged a shooting clinic to defeat the lowly Brooklyn Nets, 130-116, on Saturday night (Sunday, Manila time).
McCollum (4 of 5, 3FGs) and Aminu (5 of 6 off the bench) combined for 9 of 11 on three pointers with Portland collectively making 16 of 25 from beyond the arc against the Nets’ 14 of 30.
After the Nets’ brief 3-point lead to open the game, Portland led until the final buzzer.
Portland had a 58-57 lead at halftime before the Blazers’ perimeter shooters caught fire halfway to extend their lead 83-71.
The Blazers scored 40 in the fourth period.
Damian Lillard had 19 points and 11 assists for Portland. Maurice Harkless added 18 points and 3 blocks while Jusuf Nurkic came up with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
It was the second win in a row for the Blazers who are 3-½ games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
Brook Lopez led with 26 points for the cellar-dwelling Nets. Sean Kilpatrick had a career-high 6 of 5 three pointers for 20 points.