Damian Lillard shines in Portland Trail Blazers' win over Golden State Warriors; Washington Wizards pick up first win of season
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum poured in 62 points between them as the Portland Trail Blazers dominated the Golden State Warriors, while Bradley Beal made franchise history to lead the Washington Wizards to their first win over the season.
The Phoenix Suns extended their win streak to four wins, Giannis Antetokounmpo was in commanding form for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics for their first win of the campaign.
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Portland Trail Blazers 123-98 Golden State Warriors
CJ McCollum led an early barrage of three-pointers with four in the first nine minutes, helping the Blazers build a big early lead en route to a 123-98 victory over the Warriors in San Francisco, with the teams due to meet again Sunday night.
Damian Lillard led all scorers with 34 points, along with a game-high eight assists, and McCollum totaled 28, helping the Trail Blazers improve to 2-1 on their four-game California road trip. Stephen Curry had a team-high 26 points and finished four of 12 on three-pointers for the Warriors, who were making their season home debut.
McCollum had four of the team’s seven treys in the first 8:12, during which the Trail Blazers went up 29-9. Golden State got within 76-67 after a three-point play by Juan Toscano-Anderson in the fifth minute of the third quarter, but that’s when Lillard caught fire.
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The 30-year-old drained three three-pointers among 13 points in a 22-7 run that created a 98-74 cushion with 2:45 remaining in the third period. Lillard finished six-for-10 from three-point range and McCollum was four-for-11 as the Trail Blazers connected on 20 of 43 from beyond the arc (46.5 percent).
Carmelo Anthony contributed three three-pointers to the long-range assault to account for half his 18 points. Anfernee Simons also dropped in three for all but two of his 11 points.
Chicago Bulls 96-126 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo produced 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists while Bryn Forbes scored 18 points as the Bucks routed the Bulls 126-96.
Milwaukee led by as many as 32 points while riding 22-of-45 accuracy from three-point range to snap the Bulls’ two-game winning streak.
Seven Bucks finished in double figures, with Khris Middleton (14 points), Bobby Portis (13), Pat Connaughton (11), Donte DiVincenzo (11) and Jrue Holiday (11) rounding out a balanced attack. Portis added 12 rebounds.
The Bucks, who hit an NBA-record 29 3-pointers Tuesday in a win at Miami, have made a league-leading 108 treys through six games.
One night after amassing 34 assists in a 133-130 victory at Washington, the Bulls couldn’t channel similar fluidity with moving the ball. Chicago had eight turnovers and seven assists in the first half, a trend that continued the rest of the way as they finished with 20 turnovers and 18 assists on 38 made field goals.
Zach LaVine had 16 points and six rebounds for Chicago. He was joined in double figures by Denzel Valentine (14 points), as well as Wendell Carter Jr. and Coby White (12 points apiece).
Phoenix Suns 106-103 Denver Nuggets
Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Devin Booker also scored 22, and the visiting Suns beat the Nuggets 106-103. Chris Paul added 21 points and Mikal Bridges scored 14 for the Suns, who have won four straight.
Jamal Murray had 31 points in his return to the lineup, Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for Denver, with Paul Millsap adding 15 and Monte Morris 10 from the bench.
The Nuggets played without Michael Porter Jr. and will be without their third-leading scorer for multiple games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols regarding contact tracing.
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Phoenix took the lead in the final minute of the first quarter and kept it for most of the game. It was 94-84 when Jokic hit a layup, Murray scored seven points, Jokic scored off an offensive rebound and Morris hit a three-pointer from the wing to give the Nuggets a 98-97 lead.
Paul’s two free throws and Booker’s three-pointer put Phoenix back in front, but Denver had a chance to tie with 31 seconds left only for Gary Harris lost the ball as he went up for a dunk.
Paul hit a fadeaway from just outside the lane to give the Suns a four-point lead with 7.1 seconds left. Jokic hit a 3-pointer, Paul made two free throws and Murray missed a 3-pointer at the horn.
Washington Wizards 130-109 Minnesota Timberwolves
Bradley Beal scored 31 points to lift the Wizards to their first win of the season as they beat the Timberwolves 130-109, becoming the first player in franchise history to start a season with at least 25 points in the team’s first six games.
Beal, who made 12 of 20 shots from the floor, tormented the Timberwolves in his past two meetings. He poured in 30 points in Washington’s 131-109 loss to Minnesota on Nov. 2, 2019, and added 44 points and 10 assists in a 137-116 win against the Timberwolves later that month.
Thomas Bryant finished with 18 points after making all seven of his shots from the floor. The sharp-shooting performance came one day after Bryant went 10 of 11 from the field for 28 points in the Wizards’ 133-130 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Jerome Robinson scored 13 points off the bench for Washington, who took control of the game after outscoring Minnesota by a 40-14 margin in the third quarter.
Raul Neto scored 12 points while starting in place of Russell Westbrook (rest), who sat out the second of back-to-back games for the Wizards. The former NBA MVP also sat out on Sunday, which was the previous time Washington competed on consecutive nights.
Malik Beasley scored 12 of his 21 points in the first quarter for the Timberwolves, who have lost three in a row while playing without star Karl-Anthony Towns (dislocated left wrist).
Boston Celtics 93-96 Detroit Pistons
Jerami Grant had 24 points and the Pistons scored the final eight points while collecting their first win of the season by edging out the Celtics 96-93.
Saddiq Bey had 17 points and seven rebounds, Derrick Rose contributed 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Josh Jackson added 11 points for Detroit.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 28 points, and Jaylen Brown tossed in 25 with nine rebounds. Marcus Smart added 13 points.
Boston started the second half on a 15-7 spurt to cut the Pistons’ 15-point halftime advantage to 62-55, Brown the sparkplug with eight of those points.
Bey stretched Detroit’s lead to 13 with a three-pointer with 4:22 left in the quarter, before Boston went on a 10-2 run, with Tatum scoring eight of those Celtics points on a three-pointer, a dunk, a short jumper and a free throw.
Detroit led 79-73 entering the fourth, but Brown went on a personal 7-0 run to give his team the advantage until Svi Mykhailiuk’s three-pointer with 7:16 left gave the Pistons an 86-83 lead.
Tatum’s three-pointer about two minutes later moved Boston back on top, and he drained another one with 4:15 remaining to make it 93-88 in what would prove Boston’s last points of the game.
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