Lillard Rallies Trail Blazers In OT To Beat Kings 113-108
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Damian Lillard shook off a sluggish night shooting to score five of his 25 points in overtime, and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied after blowing a 14-point halftime lead to beat the Sacramento Kings 113-108 on Tuesday night.
Jusuf Nurkic had 24 points and a career-high 23 rebounds to help Portland to its fourth straight win over Sacramento. CJ McCollum added 16 points, and Maurice Harkless had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Buddy Hield scored 27 points for Sacramento. Nemanja Bjelica added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 19 points.
Lillard wasn't much of a factor until late in the fourth quarter when he scored seven of Portland's final nine points, including a layup with 15.5 seconds remaining to force overtime.
The Blazers dominated after that while outscoring the Kings 10-5 in the overtime. Lillard made three free throws and a 20-foot jumper to spark Portland's finish and erase an otherwise rough night shooting from its backcourt tandem of Lillard and McCollum.
Lillard went 8 of 21 from the floor. McCollum shot 8 of 19.
Portland led by 64-50 at halftime and was up by seven entering the fourth before Sacramento went on a big run led by Bogdanovic. He scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and scored all five of the Kings points in overtime.
Hield made five 3s and had 19 points in the first half, but Seth Curry and Nurkic combined for 30 points before halftime.
Sacramento had no answer for Nurkic in the middle. Kings coach Dave Joerger was so frustrated that he benched 7-foot center Willie Cauley-Stein early in the first quarter after Nurkic had five points as part of a 10-3 run.
TIP-INS
Blazers: Curry had a season-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. ... Nurkic had a double-double by halftime. ... Harkless returned after sitting out against Philadelphia on Saturday because of a sore left knee. ... Portland had five turnovers in each of the first three quarters.
Kings: Bogdanovic missed his first eight shots. ... Hield made five 3s. ... Cauley-Stein had five points and 11 rebounds.
