Portland Trail Blazers’ marquee duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum helped them surge past Toronto Raptors in the second half to register their 3rd consecutive win. Damian Lillard scored an impressive double-double with 22 points and 11 assists. Whereas CJ McCollum registered 23 points against his name, out of which he scored 7 in the last 2 minutes of the game.
Talking about the Toronto Raptors, Pascal Siakam finished with 26 points and eight rebounds and Fred VanVleet added 20 points and eight assists for the team which lost for the 11th time in 12 games. The Raptors shot 4 for 22 with five turnovers in the third quarter.
CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard leads Trail Blazers to 3rd consecutive victory
The Toronto Raptors led 82-75 when Siakam scored on a short jumper with 6:27 left in the third quarter. But Toronto was held scoreless for nearly six minutes.
“We felt like a really good defense in that third quarter. We were out there communicating and working things out. It was good to have (Powell) out there,” said Damian Lillard as per ESPN. “Typically, we do well with three-guard lineups, and he’s a physical guard.”
A steal and a dunk by Powell put the Blazers ahead 83-82, and Lillard scored seven points in a 16-2 run that closed the third quarter with Portland leading 91-84.
The game was played three days after the trade deadline move in which the Raptors sent Norman Powell to the Blazers for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood.
“Norman got two quick fouls and we only played about four minutes in that stretch with that group,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “But we’ll play that lineup. It’s just a matter of when and where and what the matchups are.”
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