PORTLAND, Oregon: The Portland Trail Blazers kept up their midseason tear through the NBA thanks to their increasingly prolific backcourt duo.
Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum each scored 34 points as the Blazers beat the Brooklyn Nets 112-104 on Tuesday night for their season-high sixth consecutive victory.
Lillard became the first player to score at least 30 points in five straight games for Portland since Geoff Petrie in the franchise’s inaugural 1970-71 season, and the first NBA player to do so this season. McCollum added six assists and five rebounds and cracked the 30-point mark in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
“No question they carried us,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “Sixty-eight points from your backcourt, that goes a long way.”
Brook Lopez had 36 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, which has lost three of four. Joe Johnson had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Donald Sloan scored 14 points.
“We did not play particularly well on the defensive end in the first half,” Nets interim coach Tony Brown said. “As soon as we got engaged and started being aggressive, things started to turn for us.”
In Washington, John Wall had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists to help the Wizards beat Anthony Davis and the Pelicans 109-89.
Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Washington, which pulled away in the second half of its season-high fourth straight home win. Jared Dudley scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and helped hold Davis in check after his monster game at Detroit.
Wall was 5 for 17 from the field in his second triple-double of the season and fifth of his career.
Davis grabbed 20 more rebounds, but was held to just nine points on 3-for-9 shooting. The All-Star forward had 59 points and 20 rebounds against the Pistons on Sunday.
Gordon Hayward scored 28 points as Utah defeated Houston 117-114 in overtime in a game with significant playoff implications.
The victory moved the Jazz into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference playoff race, a half-game ahead of the Rockets.
James Harden scored 42 points for Houston and Jason Terry hit a tying 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds remaining in regulation.
Rodney Hood made a 3 over Dwight Howard with 51.9 seconds left in OT to give the Jazz a 115-112 lead. Harden followed with a layup, but Derrick Favors pushed the margin to 117-114 with 11.8 seconds to go.
In Denver, DeMarcus Cousins scored 39 points for Sacramento, including the go-ahead free throws with 48.3 seconds left, as the Kings beat the Nuggets 114-110.
The Nuggets had eight players score in double figures in their fourth loss in five games. Will Barton scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
In Philadelphia, Nikola Vucevic scored a season-high 35 points against his former team, leading the Orlando Magic to a 124-115 road win
