DAMIAN Lillard erupted for career-high 71 points as Portland Trail Blazers scored a 131-114 victory over shorthanded Houston Rockets in the 2022-2023 NBA Season on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
The former NBA Rookie of the Year awardee was scorching for Portland in the opening half with eight triples for 41 points before adding 30 more in the second half to reset his previous career-high of 63 points.
Lillard, who ended with 13 three-points made to go with six rebounds and six assists, became the eighth player in NBA history to score 70 or more points in a single game.
Jerami Grant chipped in 13 markers to go with five rebounds, while Nassir Little fell short of double-double 11 points and nine rebounds as the Trail Blazers improved to 29-31 win-loss slate.
Alperen Sengun had double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds, while JaSean Tate, Daishen Nix and Kenyon Martin Jr. had 17, 16 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Rockets, which dropped to 13-47.
The Rockets were undermanned heading in the match with the absence of Filipino-American guard Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. due to separate injuries.
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson and Donte DiVincenzo anchored Golden State Warriors’ (31-30) fourth quarter turnaround to beat Minnesota Timberwolves (30-32), 109-104, at Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
Down 94-84 midway in the final quarter, DiVincenzo scored five straight points followed by three-pointers from Thompson, Anthony Lamb and DiVincenzo to take a 105-99 lead.
The Timberwolves made its last push at 104-107 on a conversion from Kyle Anderson before the Warriors sealed the victory with two free throws from Jordan Poole.
Thompson top-scored for the defending champions Warriors with 32 points, including six three-point conversions, while DiVincenzo added 21 markers, eight rebounds and five assists./PN
BOX SCORE:
PORTLAND 131 — Lillard 71, Grant 13, Little 11, Eubanks 9, Thybulle 8, Reddish 7, Watford 6, Sharpe 5, Walker 2, Johnson 0, Knox 0.
HOUSTON 114 — Sengun 17, Tate 17, Martin 16, Nix 14, Washington 10, Marjanovic 10, Smith 9, Christopher 3, Garuba 3.
Quarterscores: 32-31, 73-58, 102-88, 131-114.
