MEMPHIS – The Grizzlies thwarted CJ McCollum’s extraordinary efforts to lift the shorthanded Trail Blazers to another road win with a hot hand from beyond the arc to outlast the Blazers, 108-103, in Memphis in front of 16,050 fans Wednesday night.
“We had leads and let them come back in the game; didn’t sustain it,” said McCollum. We didn’t sustain our brand of basketball, gave up some easy points, gave up some second chance opportunities, and they competed, battled and won the game.”
Portland dropped its first road game since Feb. 5 in Detroit, snapping a seven-game run that tied for the third-longest road winning streak in team history. The only two longer road winning streaks occurred during the 1990-91 season, when the Trail Blazers won a team-record nine straight games from March 20-April 10, 1991, and eight in a row from Nov. 3-Dec. 8, 1990.
Portland drops to 46-29 on the year, but still leads the Oklahoma City Thunder (44-31) by two games for the third spot in the Western Conference and the Northwest Division title.
“They played hard. They deserved to win the game,” said Head Coach Terry Stotts of the Grizzlies, who went 13-for-25 from behind the 3-point line. “We didn’t do the things consistently throughout the game to win it. We had our moments, but for every good moment we had we had some bad ones. We just didn’t play well enough to win a game.”
McCollum was efficient and effective from the opening tip, totaling 42 points on 16-for-25 field goal shooting. That point total represented the third highest in his NBA career. He made all seven of his shots (2-2 3-PT) in scoring 16 first-quarter points and went into halftime with 25 points on the scoreboard.
McCollum, whose first career 30-point game came in Memphis during the 2015 NBA Playoffs, continued his history of strong play in Bluff City. With his scoring output Wednesday, McCollum has now scored at least 20 points in each of his last six games in Memphis.
“Obviously he shot the ball well. You couldn’t ask much more from him,” added Coach Stotts on McCollum.
In his first significant playing time with Portland, Wade Baldwin IV scored a career-high 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, on 5-for-6 shooting against his former team. The second-year player appeared in 33 games for the Grizzlies in 2016-17, with a season high of 11 points.
“It was definitely refreshing getting out and playing with the guys I’ve been working hard in practice with,” Baldwin said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be back on an NBA floor.”
Despite the loss, the Trail Blazers return home winners of two out of three game on a difficult road trip late in the season that included wins over Oklahoma City and New Orleans. Portland has seven games remaining on its schedule – four on the road and three at home.
TOP SCORERS• McCollum scored 30+ points for the 30th time in his career (regular season).• Jusuf Nurkic netted 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting to go with a team-high eight rebounds.• Zach Collins scored seven of his 10 points (4-6 FG) in nine first-half minutes.• MarShon Brooks (21 points), Dillon Brooks (18 points) and Chandler Parsons (15 points) paced the Grizzlies.
NOTABLE• Damian Lillard missed Wednesday’s game as he is awaiting the birth of his first child back in Portland.• Maurice Harkless underwent an arthroscopy on his left knee Wednesday in Portland. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.• Memphis has defeated Portland in two of this season’s three meetings, with the series finale taking place Sunday in Portland.
QUOTABLE
“The offense comes and goes, but our defense has to be better.” – CJ McCollum
LISTEN UP
NEXT UPThe Trail Blazers head back to Portland for home games 39 and 40 beginning Friday night against the LA Clippers. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN, NBC Sports Northwest and NBC Sports Northwest Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Portland has won two out three meetings so far this season, so a win Friday would secure the tiebreaker against another Western Conference contender.