Lillard scores 28, Blazers rally to clip Pistons

Damian Lillard scored 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers outscored the visiting Detroit Pistons 14-3 over the final 4 1/2 minutes en route to a 117-112 victory Saturday night. Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in a season-high 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who won for the sixth time in seven games.

Blake Griffin tallied 27 points, Reggie Jackson added 24 points and Andre Drummond collected 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who had won in eight of their previous 11 outings. Seth Curry scored 16 points and Lillard added 13 as the Blazers took a 59-56 lead at intermission. Griffin had 16 and Jackson 12 for the Pistons.

Jackson's 3 gave Detroit an 83-80 lead midway through the third quarter. The Pistons' edge was 92-89 heading into the final period. The Pistons increased their lead to 97-91 with 10 minutes remaining. It was still 101-96 when Zach Collins' dunk got Portland to within 101-98 with 7:27 left. Ish Smith's layup got Detroit back on top 103-98, but Aminu buried a 3, then sank 2 of 3 attempts at the foul line to get the Blazers even at 103-103 with 5:46 to play.

Griffin answered with a 3-pointer, and Drummond's three-point play pushed the Pistons in front 109-103 with 4:28 remaining. Aminu converted a layup to cut it to 109-105, and Moe Harkless followed suit to bring the Blazers to within 109-107 with 2:35 left. Jusuf Nurkic's layup tied the count at 109-109 with 1:58 to go. Lillard scored on a four-point play to give Portland a 113-109 lead with 1:37 to play. Nurkic's dunk increased the difference to 115-109 with 1:17 to go. Detroit's Langston Galloway knocked down a 3, but Aminu scored on a put-back to pull the Blazers into a 117-112 advantage with 4.1 ticks left.

Detroit jumped to a 14-9 lead. Portland struck back with a 12-2 run to go ahead 21-16. The Blazers increased the difference to 30-21 on back-to-back baskets by Curry. Portland settled for a 32-28 advantage heading into the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Curry hiked the Blazers' advantage to 39-28. Zach Collins' rebound basket pushed the margin to 49-37 midway through the second quarter. The Pistons cut it to 53-52 with a 15-4 spurt. Portland carried a three-point lead into the half.

--Field Level Media