NBA: Lillard’s Blazers remain on fire, Westbrook creates Triple-Double

The Portland Trail Blazers take their tenth victory in a row because Damian Lillard is hot again. The Bucks are celebrating a strong comeback of Brandon Jennings and the Oklahoma City Thunder are making a mandatory victory thanks to their Big Three.

The outsider from Memphis was able to keep up for almost 10 minutes and was even in front in this initial phase before an offensive dry spell – caused by a strong Defense Milwaukee – caused the matter to tip over into the expected direction.

In the course of the second and third quarter it looked as if Memphis would fall apart completely – they were already trailing by 19 points. Then, led by Ben McLemore’s second unit, they proved their morale once again and reduced the score to 91:97, a good 6 minutes before the end. However, Eric Bledsoe didn’t seem to have much appetite for a tight crunchtime and scored 6 of the next 8 Bucks points. As a result, the conditions were quickly straightened out again and the victory was finally won in a sovereign manner.

The story of the evening was written by Brandon Jennings, who made his first match for his new, old love as part of his ten-day contract. With 16 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes he barely missed a triple double – that would have been it, of course. Bucks topscorer was Khris Middleton with 24 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo came in at 20.

On the other hand, three players scored 16 points: McLemore, Dillon Brooks and Jarell Martin. Marc Gasol outdid it with 17 points and 7 rebounds.

The Thunders continue to do a good job when it comes to winning the playoffs. There was one against the Kings – even if it was a hard piece of work.

The visitors from the Californian capital were rebellious and evened out the game over long distances. Even a few small setbacks in the fourth quarter did not deter them, so Bogdan Bogdanovic brought his team from the free-throw line to 101:104 23 seconds before the end. Theoretically it was now a one-posession game, but the kings had to foul and Corey Brewer kept his nerves in his freebies for OKC. Game.

Russell Westbrook collected with 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds his 20th place. Triple double of the season. More important from Thunder’s point of view, however, was that both Paul George and Carmelo Anthony broke through their throwing crisis with 21 points each. However, there was also a drop in bitterness: Steven Adams had to leave the game early in the third quarter after being hit on the hip. Further investigations are still pending.

At the Kings Bogdanovic played 19 points and 8 rebounds, Garrett Temple and Justin Jackson scored 15 points each.

Some single actions in a game simply show the condition of a team or how confident they are. The Blazers’ last attack – with nine consecutive victories in a row in the baggage with a correspondingly broad chest – was such an action in the first quarter: Damian Lillard made several opponents look old by spinmove and then played a kickout pass on Zach Collins. A fake and an elegant pirouette later the Moda Center was upside down because it had sunk a spectacular threesome at 34:25. It’s going well in Oregon.

However, the Blazers had to overcome some difficult phases against the Heat. At the end of the second quarter, they couldn’t make it for several minutes and let Miami come near again. After the hosts had recovered and moved away again, the fun was repeated in crunchtime: a three-way from Tyler Johnson set the score at 90:93 from his team’s point of view.

Portland coach Terry Stotts was pissed off and took a break. Probably he didn’t have to say much, after all he has Damian Lillard in his squad. With frightening calmness he seized the game and sunk two Clutch-Dreier, who pulled the Heat then nevertheless the tooth. He responded to traps and double-teams with precise hints at Jusuf Nurkic, for example, who thanked him with a crashing dark.

In the end Lillard had 32 points (7/14 3FG) and 10 assists for the 10th time. Victory in a row, Nurkic scored 27 points and 16 rebounds. Also C. J. McCollum (17 points) had his moments. Top scorer on the other side was Goran Dragic with 21 points, Tyler Johnson was 17. Hassan Whiteside (hip) and Dwyane Wade (thigh) were not used. However, these are not more serious injuries.