JUSUF Nurkic had the big numbers but teammate Damian Lillard hit the bigger shots as the Portland Trailblazers survived a wild finish in an overtime win, 114-108, over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Moda Center on Thursday (Friday, Manila time).
Nurkic finished with an impressive 20-20 as he had 28 points and 20 rebounds to go with eight assists and six blocks. Lillard, though, shone bright in the extra period to lead the Blazers (28-35) to their fourth straight win.
Lillard took over in breaking a tie game at 104-all entering the final two minutes of extra time with a pair of free throws and a layup after a Dario Saric turnover. Gerald Henderson got the Sixers within two in the next play, but Lillard proved steady at the stripe to push the lead back up to 110-106 with 40 ticks left.
After another Sixers turnover, Allen Crabbe drilled a floater to put Portland on top by six but Henderson was fouled while shooting a three on the next play. Henderson, though, nailed just two of three charities and CJ McCollum answered with his own free throws to seal the win.
The Sixers trailed by as much as 12 early on but used a 13-2 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to get their first taste of the lead, 82-78, with 10:25 to play in regulation. But the Blazers countered with a 7-0 blast to regain control and set the tone for a cardiac finish.
Saric sank two charities to put the Sixers back on top, but Portland again retook a 97-95 edge on a pair of free throws from McCollum with 19 ticks left. Al-Farouq Aminu got the steal off Saric but quickly turned it over, which set up Robert Covington’s tip-in off a Gerald Henderson miss to send the game into overtime.
Lillard finished with 24 points and McCollum added 23 markers. Crabbe contributed 18 off the bench.
Saric led the way for the Sixers (23-41), losers of three in a row, with 28 points. Covington added 24 markers and 13 rebounds, while Jahlil Okafor had 16 points.