nets

Casey Holdahl

UPDATE: The team has officially announced that they have matched the Nets' offer sheet to Allen Crabbe, though a "formal announcement" and Crabbe actually signing the contract will not occur until later in the week.

After finishing up their pursuit of new free agents, the Trail Blazers have wasted little time in turning their attention to the free agents on their own roster. After reportedly signing restricted free agent power forward Meyers Leonard to a four-year deal, the Trail Blazers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, have matched the four-year, $75 million offer sheet the Brooklyn Nets tendered to third-year guard/forward Allen Crabbe, ensuring that the former Cal Bear will be back in Portland next season...

As is often the case when it comes to restricted free agents, the Nets offer to Crabbe, who has averaged 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game through three season, was considerably larger than many assumed the 6-6 wing would receive in an effort to discourage the Trail Blazers from matching. And after the Trail Blazers signed free agent guard/forward Evan Turner to a four-year deal, some assumed that combined with the size of the Nets offer might result in Trail Blazers letting Crabbe walk.

But that would not be the case. Crabbe has been a favorite of the front office and coaching staff since the team acquired former Pac-12 Player of the Year via trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2012 Draft. And though he played sparingly in his first two seasons, he saw his minutes increase dramatically in 2015-16, as he appeared in 81 games and responded with averages of 10.8 points on 44 percent shooting and 39 percent shooting from three, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists while serving as one of the team's best perimeter defenders.

There were rumors that outside of the money and years, Crabbe, who has typically come off the bench for the Trail Blazers, was intrigued by the opportunity to start and play a larger role with the Nets. But for his part, Crabbe seemed more than satisfied that he would be returning to Portland...

With Crabbe now signed, forward Maurice Harkless is the last Blazer still available on the free agent market. Like Crabbe, Harkless is a restricted free agent, which gives the Trail Blazers the right to match any offer he receives from another team. It is also possible for the Trail Blazers to sign Harkless even if he doesn't receive an offer sheet from another team, as they have reportedly did Sunday with restricted free agent power forward Meyers Leonard.

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Trail Blazers Match Four-Year Offer For Allen Crabbe

PORTLAND -- Sunday night's win versus the Utah Jazz was the first time that both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each scored at least 30 points in the same game.

They didn't wait long to repeat that feat.

Lillard and McCollum both scored 34 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a 112-104 victory versus the Brooklyn Nets in front of a sellout crowd of 19,393 Tuesday night at the Moda Center.

"Well offensively, no question they carried us," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts of his starting backcourt. "The first half, we had 15 assists in the first half. The ball was moving. Dame and CJ carried us at the end and certainly you look at the box score and they had 68 between them, but I thought we did a lot of good things offensively in the first half with 15 assists and screening and ball movement. When we screen and when we pass, we’re pretty effective. But 68 points from your backcourt, that goes a long way."

The win moves Portland to 30-27 overall, 19-11 at home while extending their win streak to a season-best six games. What's more, the Trail Blazers are now tied for sixth in the Western Conference standings with the Dallas Mavericks. Portland is 15-3 in their past 18 games and are now three games above .500 for the first time this season.

The Trail Blazers led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but a 15-4 run would help the Nets outscore Portland by 11 in the third and cut the lead to 85-82 going into the fourth. Behind the play of center Brook Lopez, Brooklyn took a three-point lead with less than six minutes to play.

"I say it all the time: we don't have the luxury of coming in and expecting somebody to lay down to us or expecting to win games, period," said Lillard. "We've got to come out, we've got to play four quarters, we've got to do those small things that make us the team that we've become. When we don't do that you see, like tonight, we can be beat. It's no surprise, nothing crazy happened, but we've just got to understand that when we don't stick to those principle things, we can be beat."

Though that wouldn't be the end result Tuesday night. A late-game surge, led by the scoring of Lillard and McCollum and an increased effort on the defensive end, resulted in the Trail Blazers outscoring the Nets 19-8 in the last five minutes to keep their winning streak alive.

“The game got intense, they took the lead," said Stotts. "You could just tell that there was a little more urgency at the defensive end. Obviously we made some baskets, I thought Mason made a couple good passes, our three man game was working between him and Dame and CJ. Obviously the two threes widened the gap. Probably offensively there was some trust there that we would make a play for one another and ultimately I thought that made the difference at the end."

Lillard went 14-of-14 from the free throw line and 8-of-19 from the field to get his 34 whole also adding four assists, three steals and two rebounds in just under 37 minutes. He became the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in five consecutive games since Geoff Petrie in 1970. Lillard also passed Nicolas Batum for third all-time in franchise history in made three-pointers with 752 and counting.

As for McCollum, he used a 5-of-7 night from three to equal his backcourt partner in scoring while leading the in assists with six and grabbing five rebounds.

(McCollum) was fun to watch," said Lillard. "A lot of times, I’d kick him the ball ahead and I’d go to the opposite wing and I’d catch myself watching him sometimes, the stuff that he can do, how crafty he is with the ball, the tough shots that he can knock down. I think the best part for me is that stretch at the end of the game, I didn't feel like I had to keep the ball. A couple possessions where the game was tied, he hit a big three, we were down two, he hit a pull-up, tie game he hit another pull-up. So it’s comforting for me to know that I can pitch ahead to CJ and be on the weak side and if he gets trapped, they can swing it to me, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in him having the ball."

Both Al-Farouq Aminu and Gerald Henderson each scored 10 points, with four players scoring four points. Mason Plumlee grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Lopez finished with 36 points on 16-of-24 shooting, 10 rebounds and four steals in 40 minutes. Joe Johnson added 19 and Donal Sloan finished with 14.

Next up, the Trail Blazers finish a home-heavy start to 2016 by hosting the Rockets Thursday night at the Moda Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

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McCollum And Lillard Each Get 34 For Portland's 30th

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