Wednesday, Jan. 13: Blazers 132, Kings 126
The skinny: Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have enjoyed a lot of great performances in the NBA, some of them at the same time.
Wednesday's performance at Sacramento has to rank high up on the list.
The Blazers (7-4) beat Sacramento 132-126, rallying from a big deficit, to win their fourth consecutive game. The teams combined for 42 3-pointers made, tied for second-most in NBA history; Portland tied a franchise record with 23 makes.
Lillard went for 40 points and 13 assists and McCollum added 28 points and 10 assists, marking the first time they have each topped 10 assists in the same game. Oh, and Lillard didn't make a turnover, and McCollum only one.
Lillard is the first player in NBA history with at least 40 points, 13 assists and no turnovers.
They had to be good, as their Kings counterparts had a standout game. De'Aaron Fox had 29 points and Buddy Hield 28.
The Kings (5-7) made seven 3-pointers and scored 43 first-quarter points, and led by 20 points in the second quarter.
McCollum's 3-pointer put Portland ahead, 119-117, with 5:29 left and the Blazers never trailed again.
Other than at the free-throw line, Lillard and McCollum had very similar nights, each hitting six 3-pointers; Lillard went 11 of 23 from the field and McCollum 10 of 23. Lillard went 12 of 12 from the free-throw line.
Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The Blazers went 23 of 48 on 3-pointers, and Sacramento 19 of 38.
Quotable: "Coach has been emphasizing we need to get more 3s up. We continued to penetrate and pitch and take those open shots. It really helped us that we were getting high-quality looks," Lillard said.
Next up: The Blazers open a seven-game homestand against Indiana at 7 p.m. Thursday at Moda Center.
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