lillard portland trail blazers

Another 30+ performance by Damian Lillard, and fabulous team defense carried the Portland Trail Blazers to their eighth-straight win Tuesday night, 111-87, over the New York Knicks at the Moda Center.

Lillard went off for 37 points, a night after scoring 39 in a comeback win over the Lakers, and had Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek talking about post-season honors.

"The guy is playing fantastic," Hornacek told reporters. "He might be one of those guys you've got to start talking about that MVP too with the way he's playing."

Lillard is averaging a career-best 26.8 points per game this season.

"I said after I won Rookie of the Year, I said I think I can be MVP in this league," Lillard said. "Being in the discussion, it's an honor to be mentioned, but I don't look at that and think `Oh they mentioned me in the MVP discussion.' I feel that's the level of player I can be."

Portland improved to 39-26 with a home game against Golden State on tap for Friday.

2. PAC-12 MEN'S TOURNAMENT

Oregon and Oregon State get into action in the Pac-12 men's basketball tournament in Las Vegas today with game in the evening.

Oregon State, the 10th seed, plays seventh seed Washington at 6 p.m., while Oregon, the sixth seed, plays 11th seeded Washington State at 8:30 p.m. Both games are available on the Pac-12 Network.

Also, Oregon sophomore Payton Pritchard was named to the all-conference second team, and freshman Kenny Wooten was named all-conference first team for defense.

3. HAWKS WIN, ADD STANDISH FOR REUNION

Portland's Ty Kolle scored with just over three minutes left to lift the Winterhawks to a 4-3 win at Prince George, B.C., Tuesday night. The Hawks play at Everett, Wash., tonight, then return for home games Saturday and Sunday.

The Hawks added Marty Standish for the reunion of the 1998 Memorial Cup champions Saturday. The will honor the '98 squad with a Hall of Fame induction for four of the key members: Marian Hossa, Andrew Ference, Brendan Morrow and Todd Robinson, who plan to attend.

4. TIMBERS/THORNS EYE HOME OPENERS

The Portland Timbers continue the early part of their season in New York Saturday, with three more road games before their home opener, April 14, at Providence Park.

The Portland Thorns open their sixth season in the National Women's Soccer League March 15 in North Carolina, and begin play at home April 15.

PORTLAND - Kyle Lowry credited backcourt teammate DeMar DeRozan for Toronto’s latest win.

Lowry had 30 points, DeRozan added 29 and the Toronto Raptors snapped Portland’s five-game winning streak with a 110-103 victory over the Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

“DeMar was aggressive and stayed aggressive throughout the game,” Lowry said. “His aggressiveness really helped set the tempo and set the standard for us throughout the game.

Damian Lillard had 27 points and 11 assists, while CJ McCollum added 21 points for Portland in the matchup between two of the league’s dynamic backcourts.

The Raptors, who have lost only one of their last 14 games, led by as many as 16 points in the first half. But the Blazers chipped away in the third quarter and came within 85-81 on Meyers Leonard’s jumper in the fourth. Lowry answered with a 3-pointer and Portland couldn’t get closer.

Toronto extended its lead to 94-81 on Lowry’s 3 with 6:52 left in the game. The Raptors made 12 of 19 3-point attempts in the game, with Lowry scoring seven of them to match his career high.

Lillard hit a jumper and Allen Crabbe made a pair free throws to pull Portland within 106-101 with 55.3 seconds left, but McCollum missed a 12-foot jumper and Toronto hit free throws to end the threat.

“We understood it was going to be a challenge tonight,” DeRozan said. “They’ve got a great backcourt that plays extremely hard and it’s a team that’s fighting for something so we had to meet the challenge tonight.”

After a loss at home to the Denver Nuggets on Monday that snapped their franchise-best 11-game winning streak, the Raptors rebounded with a 104-97 victory over the Suns.

The Raptors’ game against the Blazers was the first of a six-game road trip.

Portland was without starting forward Noah Vonleh, who injured his left ankle in the Blazers’ 107-95 victory over Milwaukee. Maurice Harkless, who had played a combined seven minutes in the last five games, was the surprising starter in Vonleh’s place.

Going into the game, Lillard and McCollum were averaging a combined 44.9 points per game, ranked third in the league, but DeRozan and Lowry were close behind and averaging 44.

Before the game, Blazers coach Terry Stotts joked about the matchup: “Let’s play two-on-two.” Raptors coach Dwane Casey, who used to work with Stotts on Rick Carlisle’s Mavericks staff, replied: “I’ll go with that.”

A fast-break dunk by DeRozan put the Raptors up 18-10 in the first quarter, and he would lead all scorers with 12 points in the period.

Boosted by eight 3-pointers, Toronto led by as many as 16 points in the first half. But a late 8-0 run pulled the Blazers within 53-47 and the Raptors led 50-51 at the half.

McCollum’s 3-pointer closed Portland within 73-69, but Lowry answered with his own and Toronto was able to keep the Blazers for gaining ground.

“They play well together,” Lillard said. “You can see it, you can hear it in how they communicate with each other. They’re a group, they’re a unit.”

Leonard was charged with a flagrant foul on Bismack Biyombo after a review late in the game.

PORTLAND - Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are enjoying the comforts of home.

Lillard and CJ McCollum scored 21 points apiece, and the Trail Blazers handed the Minnesota Timberwolves their 11th straight road loss with a 96-93 victory Sunday night.

Portland extended its winning streak to four and improved to 3-0 against the Timberwolves this season.

With the win the Blazers also moved into eighth place in the Western Conference.

At home, Lillard says the team is able to more closely examine the scouting report. At home, Lillard is on his own time, playing by his own rules. It means something to him to be able to sleep in his own bed.

“Coming in we knew we had some winnable games and it was just a matter of us taking care of business,” Lillard said. “Over the last couple of games, we’ve defended better, we’ve shared the ball better and we’ve played more complete games, so that’s led us to being able to win four in a row.”

Each of the last four games, the Blazers have won by five points or less. This was Portland’s first win by three points or fewer this season.

Portland hasn’t always been able to come through in crunch time and pull out wins. The Trail Blazers’ first four losses came by a margin of six points or fewer.

“When you’re at home, you’ve got to protect your home court,” McCollum said. “When you have a lead -- 10 points, five points, whatever it may be, down the stretch of a game, you’ve got to run clock, take advantage of the defense if they’re trapping and just try to get a good shot while using the clock every possession.”

Karl-Anthony Towns, a strong contender for Rookie of the Year, was the first player on the court in double figures and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves. It was his 25th double-double, the most of any rookie this season.

Still, Towns is not satisfied.

“It’s nice to lead the league in double-doubles for rookies, but I’d rather lead with wins,” he said. “I’m not too happy about that. I’m just playing the game and trying to do everything I can to help my team win.”

Ricky Rubio hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 92-90 with 13.1 seconds left. McCollum answered with free throws for the Blazers, and Minnesota couldn’t catch up.

Gerald Henderson made a 3 for Portland with 9:26 remaining to snap a tie. Towns answered with one of his own to even the score at 72.

Henderson wasn’t done. He hit an uncontested jumper to give Portland a lead it did not relinquish. A 3-pointer from Al-Farouq Aminu and a dunk by Meyers Leonard helped the Blazers build a 12-point cushion, their largest of the night.

Another dunk by Leonard that put Portland up 81-74 with 6:12 to go highlighted his 13-point performance.

Minnesota’s six unanswered points to begin the second half cut the Trail Blazers’ lead to three. Gorgui Dieng’s eight third-quarter points helped Minnesota claw its way to a two-point lead heading into the fourth.

As the first half was winding down, the teams traded points. Leonard’s 3 helped the Blazers go into halftime leading 48-39.

Minnesota entered ranked last in 3-point attempts this season and No. 29 in 3-point percentage at 32.4 percent. The Timberwolves went 0 for 5 on 3s in the first half.

Portland shot 22.2 percent from beyond the arc overall (6 for 27).

“We’re showing signs of growth,” Lillard said.

Leonard led the Trail Blazers’ reserves in scoring and is averaging 10.6 points per game over his last nine. “I think he held his own defensively,” Stotts said. “I’ve said this a few times: He may or may not score, but his presence on the court offensively opens things up for (Lillard) and CJ and other guys.”

Portland plays host the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

PORTLAND - The Atlanta Hawks had one main goal Wednesday night: keep Portland from making 3-pointers.

The defensive strategy worked, and the Hawks opened a four-game road trip with a 104-98 victory over the Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.

Paul Millsap and Kent Bazemore each had 23 points for Atlanta, which has won three straight overall and four straight against the Blazers. Millsap added nine rebounds.

Portland went 9 for 31 from beyond the arc. The Blazers shot 39.9 percent from long range over its previous six games, averaging 13.2 made 3s.

“Defensive focus tonight was to make sure we forced them off the 3-point line,” said Al Horford, who finished with 16 points. “We did that throughout the game. They had a lot of drives to the basket and that’s what we wanted to do.”

CJ McCollum had 28 points for Portland, which trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half but came all the way back to grab an 84-79 lead after Meyers Leonard’s 3-pointer with 8:10 left.

Kyle Korver wrestled back the lead for the Hawks with his first 3-pointer of the game, before Millsap’s 3 and Horford’s jumper stretched Atlanta’s lead to 98-92 with 1:53 left. Portland couldn’t catch up.

“We got a couple stops, and I think we hit some 3s,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “At the end of the day, both teams can be very effective from the 3-point line. We wanted to take away their 3s.”

Damian Lillard had 18 points for the Blazers in the opener of an eight-game homestand.

“We wanted to start it off with a win tonight,” Lillard said. “It would have been a good win for us but we didn’t put enough of a complete game together.”

Atlanta opened a 33-20 lead on Mike Scott’s jumper in the second quarter, but Portland pulled within one at 43-42 after Lillard’s long jumper. Atlanta had a 48-43 lead at the break.

The Hawks increased their advantage to 66-56 midway through the third, but the Blazers kept hanging around, closing to 74-72 on McCollum’s 19-foot jumper.

Lillard hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to tie it at 79 with 9:42 to go. He followed with a running layup that gave Portland its first lead since the first quarter.

“When our defense is where it needs to be on any given night, we will be tough to beat. Our offense gets a lot of the glory but it was our defense that kept us in the game,” Bazemore said.

With a young squad, Portland was looking at the process more than the result.

“I thought we had a good effort. It seemed like we were fighting from behind most of the way but we kept at it,” coach Terry Stotts said.

TIP-INS

Hawks: With the win, Budenholzer tied Bob Weiss for eighth on Hawks’ career wins list with 124.

Trail Blazers: McCollum has now scored 20 or more points in 20 games this season. ... The Blazers played the music video for Lillard’s newly released song “Bigger Than Us.”

VANITY PLATES

The Trail Blazers unveiled Oregon’s new Trail Blazers license plate, which will be available to drivers this spring. Proceeds from the $40 surcharge for the plates will be distributed to youth-oriented nonprofits across Oregon. Gov. Kate Brown was on hand for the unveiling.

A season-high performance from long range helped the Portland Trail Blazers bounce Monday back from a discouraging loss and refocus on reaching the playoffs for the third straight season.

The starting backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum helped the Blazers roar back from an embarrassing 25-point loss to Philadelphia for a 108-98 win at Washington on Monday in which they shot a season-best 54.8 percent from long range.

Lillard and McCollum, who both sat out the 76ers game with slight injuries, combined for 41 points and went 8 of 16 on 3s as the Blazers won for the fourth time in five games.

“Winning three (in a row) and then getting beat by a (76ers) team that only had four wins - the ability to come back and lock in and not dwell on what had happened is big for us,” said Meyers Leonard, who scored 18 points.

Next up for the Blazers (19-25), the Southeast Division-leading Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at the Moda Center.

Hawks can create some breathing room atop the Southeast Division with their closest pursuer banged-up and trudging through an exhausting stretch.

The Hawks, however, need to carry the balance they’ve shown in their last few home games out on the road beginning with Wednesday night’s opener of a four-game trip against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Atlanta (25-17) has been jockeying with Miami for the division lead and carries a slim advantage into this matchup with Portland (19-25). The Heat, already saddled with key injuries, are amid a vicious slate in which only two of 16 games come at home.

One of those contests is Jan. 31 against the Hawks, who don’t have it much easier until then with five of their next six away from home.

They’ve lost four of six outside Atlanta to fall to 10-10 on the road, but a pair of home victories this week showed signs of them regaining the balance they used during last season’s 60-win campaign.

After shooting a combined 40.3 percent, including 16 of 55 from 3-point range, in road losses to Charlotte and Milwaukee last week, Atlanta shot the ball well and used its deep rotation in home wins over Brooklyn and Orlando.

The Hawks hit 55.7 percent despite missing 21 of 29 from long range in a 114-86 rout of the Nets on Saturday before having one of their most effective nights from deep with a 9-for-19 effort in Monday’s 98-81 victory over the Magic.

The reserves were key in both wins, providing 53 points, 24 rebounds and 18 assists against Brooklyn, and 47 points, 17 rebounds and 19 assists versus Orlando.

“Our bench has been doing great,” starting forward Paul Millsap said. “When they get in the game, they push the tempo, they get after it on defense, and when you have the whole team contributing, the whole team out there fighting hard, it makes us a tough team.”

The constant stream of fresh legs wreaked havoc on the perimeter, forcing the Nets and Magic to miss 30 of 42 long-range attempts -- a welcome sight for a Hawks team that ranked seventh in the NBA last season with a 34.1 defensive 3-point percentage.

“Their defensive energy is fueling everything else, so hopefully we can continue to get the starters to feed off that, too,” coach Mike Budenholzer said of his reserves. “It’s been good to see that for a few games in a row.”

The perimeter focus needs to remain against the Trail Blazers, who rank third in the league with an average of 10.3 3-pointers and fifth with 28.4 attempts per game. The outside defense was clicking in the first meeting against Portland, which missed 19 of 24 from beyond the arc in a 106-97 loss at Atlanta on Dec. 21.