PHOENIX – Damian Lillard scored the last two of his 19 fourth-quarter points with 0.9 seconds to play in Portland’s sterling late-game comeback win, 106-104, over the Suns Saturday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Trail Blazers trailed by 13 points halfway through the fourth quarter and by as many as 15 points minutes earlier before Damian Lillard did what Damian Lillard does, willing the Trail Blazers to their second victory in as many nights.
"For three quarters we didn't play great, but the good teams, playoff teams, they find a way to get it done in the fourth quarter, and we put a great effort together." said Lillard.
Lillard’s final bit of magic was enabled by Portland forcing a five-second violation from Phoenix with 20.6 seconds remaining. Lillard scored 40 points in all, 28 of which coming in the second half. Portland’s winning run amounted to 24-9 in the final 6:01.
"I was really proud of how our guys kept competing and never gave up," said Head Coach Terry Stotts. "Obviously Damian was huge. He showed his leadership, showed his talent. We just did a lot of good things in that fourth quarter that got us over the hump."
The Trail Blazers, winners of five of their past six games, improve to 34-26, a season-best eight games above .500. Portland also slides up to fifth in the highly competitive Western Conference race. The Trail Blazers are now 17-15 on the road after winning each of their past three contests away from home.
Maurice Harkless dunked, stole an inbounds pass and assisted an Al-Farouq Aminu dunk, and it was Trail Blazers 4, Suns 0 – just 25 seconds into the game. But things got a lot tougher from that point on.
After a back-and-forth first half in which neither team led by more than five points, the Trail Blazers used a 9-2 run before the horn to take a 55-50 halftime lead. Portland pushed the led to 60-50 to open the second half, but the Suns stormed back with a 31-7 run to take the game’s largest lead at 81-67 late in the third period – only to set up Lillard’s heroics.
HIGH FIVEAs if he hadn’t set his fair share of records already this season and throughout his career, Damian Lillard added a pair of milestones to his ledger Saturday in Phoenix.
Lillard has now scored 197 points over the past five games, more in a five-game stretch than any Trail Blazer in team history (Brandon Roy - 182 points, Dec. 9-18, 2008). Those 197 points are also the most by any NBA player during a five-game stretch all season long.
The 6-3 guard also extended his streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 42, matching his own franchise record for a single season. He accomplished the same feat From November 22, 2016 to March 7, 2017. The team record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer across multiple seasons belongs to Nicolas Batum (44, 3/14/13-1/2/14).
Lillard was also eyeing the franchise record for consecutive free throws made but snapped his streak at 54 made attempts in a row. That ties the longest streak of his career (March 8-24, 2016) and falls just three shy of Damon Stoudamire’s franchise record. Tonight’s opponent Devin Booker’s NBA-best 60 straight makes from the foul line remains the benchmark for all NBA players this season.
TOP SCORERS• CJ McCollum scored nine of his 21 points during Portland’s fourth-quarter comeback. He and Lillard tallied 28 of Portland’s 35 points in the final stanza.• Jusuf Nurkic added 14 points and 13 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season, extending his career high.
NOTABLES• Portland has now won seven straight games against Phoenix for the first time since 1987-1988 and has swept the season series (4-0) for the first time since the 1998-99 season.• Lillard has scored 25-plus points in each of his last eight games against the Suns, including five games of 30 points or more.• The Trail Blazers committed just two turnovers in the first half after tallying only two turnovers in the second half Friday night at Utah.
QUOTABLE
"It comes down to how much it means to you. I know how much it would hurt me to have to sit and watch other teams play in the playoffs. And I think our entire team has adopted that mentality. We got a taste of the postseason, we won a playoff series, and we like that feeling." - Damian Lillard
LISTEN UP
NEXT UPAfter a two-game road sweep, the Trail Blazers return to Moda Center to face the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday in their first home contest following the All-Star break. Tipoff in Portland is scheduled for 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Northwest and NBC Sports Northwest Rip City Radio 620 AM.
The Trail Blazers will play 13 of its final 22 games in the friendly confines of Moda Center. March is a particularly busy month in Rip City, with 10 of 15 games played in Portland.