Tuesday, January 06, 2015
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Lillard's late surge carries Blazers past Lakers

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[January 06, 2015]  PORTLAND, Ore. -- "Lillard Time" came a little earlier than normal Monday night at the Moda Center.

Guard Damian Lillard, who has made a habit of hitting game-winning shots in his three NBA seasons, scored 16 of his game-high 39 points over the final 5:12 as Portland rallied from a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 98-94.

"He has probably saved four or five games for us by himself as a one-man show," Portland center Chris Kaman said. "It takes a team, but big plays keep coming off his back.""

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 21 points and eight rebounds as the Trail Blazers (27-8) won for the 10th time in 12 outings. Forward Meyers Leonard came off the bench for 12 points and equaled his season high with 12 rebounds.

Center Jordan Hill matched his season high with 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting and grabbed 11 boards for the Lakers, who went without guard Kobe Bryant, held out to rest in the second of back-to-back games.

During a timeout with 5:55 remaining and the Blazers trailing 82-76, Aldridge beckoned his teammate.
 


"L.A. was like, 'We got to get it going, we have to take over the rest of this game,'" Lillard said. "I said, 'I'm with you.' He got aggressive. I got aggressive."

After Hill sank one of two free throws to make it 83-76, Lillard went to work. He drained back-to-back 3-pointers to draw Portland within 85-82.

Aldridge then came through with consecutive buckets to put the Blazers ahead 86-85. After that came a driving layup and another 3-pointer from Lillard to make it 91-87 Portland with 2:33 to go.

The Lakers (11-24) went back ahead on five free throws -- three by guard Nick Young, two by guard Jeremy Lin, the latter two points with 43.3 seconds left for a 92-91 lead.

However, Lillard scored on a backdoor layup with 36.4 seconds remaining. After Young missed a jumper, the Blazers rebounded, and Lillard was fouled. His two free throws with 18.9 seconds left gave Portland a 95-92 advantage.

After a timeout, Lin airballed a 3-point attempt. Aldridge sank a pair at the line with 12.5 ticks left to up the margin to 97-92, but Lin scored on a driving layup to cut the lead to 97-94 with 7.7 seconds to go.

Lillard -- who finished 12-for-21 from the field, 4-for-8 from 3-point range and 11-for-13 at the line -- wrapped it up by making one of two foul shots with 6.7 seconds left.

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"He got hot," said Lin, who had 14 points in 21 minutes off the Los Angeles bench. "We didn't do a good enough job in terms of disrupting him, sending guys at him to contest his threes. He hit tough shots, too. He hit one where he double-clutched and threw it in. You have to tip your hat."

Lillard scored 15 points to stake Portland to a 47-45 halftime lead. He got first-half help from Kaman (eight points, nine rebounds, three blocks) and Leonard (eight points, four rebounds).

Hill, who had 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting at the break, scored on back-to-back buckets to key an 11-1 spurt as the Lakers went ahead 63-55 midway through the third quarter. Los Angeles was on top 73-70 going into the final period.

The Lakers were ahead by six before Leonard converted a four-point play to make it 76-74 with 8:58 remaining.

NOTES: Portland G Damian Lillard's season scoring high is 43 ... Lakers G Ronnie Price left the game after taking an elbow to the face from Portland F Thomas Robinson. Price sustained 11 stitches. ... Lakers coach Byron Scott said he was numbed by news of the Monday death of Alina Kupchak, the 15-year-old daughter of Los Angeles GM Mitch Kupchak, after a lengthy, unspecified illness. "It just tells you basketball isn't that important," Scott said. "For all of us who have kids, especially fathers who have daughters, it's unimaginable. That's not supposed to happen. Our hearts go out to Mitch and (wife) Claire." ... Portland coach Terry Stotts was named Western Conference Coach of the Month on Monday. The Blazers went 13-3 in December. "Sounds cliche, but it's a team award," Stotts said. ... The Lakers played without G Kobe Bryant, who was left in Los Angeles to rest after playing 32 minutes -- and hitting the game-winning shot -- against Indiana on Sunday night. ... Also missing was F Wesley Johnson, who hurt his right hip against the Pacers. "He could be back by as early as the end of this week or early next week," Scott said.

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