Lillard leads Blazers past Cavs 129-112

Damian Lillard scored 33 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 129-112 Wednesday night. CJ McCollum added 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double for Portland, which won its fifth straight home contest. Jordan Clarkson came off the bench for 22 points and Rodney Hood added 20 for the Cavaliers, who lost for the 13th time in 14 games.

Portland shot 52.8 percent from the field and won the game at the 3-point line, hitting 16 of 29 attempts compared with Cleveland's 6 for 19. The Cavaliers shot 47.4 percent from the floor. Lillard scored 12 points and McCollum 11 to carry Portland to a 62-55 lead at halftime. Hood and Clarkson each had 11 points for Cleveland. The Blazers hit 11 of 17 shots (.647) from 3-point range in the half but were only 9 for 27 (.333) on 2-point shots.

Cleveland was within 73-64 when Portland used a 16-4 surge to go ahead 89-68. The Blazers carried a 100-85 advantage into the final period. Portland scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to extend the margin to 104-85. The Cavaliers cut it to 112-102 on a runner by Cameron Payne with 5:54 remaining. The Blazers then scored six straight points to jump on top 118-102 with 4:39 to go. The Cavaliers got no closer than 16 points the rest of the way. With Lillard and McCollum combining for 15 points, the Blazers took a 30-26 lead into the second quarter. Cleveland outscored Portland 12-5 to start the quarter to seize a 38-35 advantage. The Blazers used a 17-6 run to go ahead 52-44. Portland settled for a seven-point edge at the half. 

(With inputs from agencies.)