Damian Lillard made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, lifting the Portland Trail Blazers to a 119-116 win over the Cleveland Cavalierson Tuesday night.
Lillard had a career-high eight 3-pointers while scoring 36 points. The 2013 NBA Rookie of the Year also had a fadeaway jumper as time expired to give Portland a 111-109 overtime victory over Detroit on Sunday.
Portland (22-4) has the best record in the NBA and is 11-0 against the Eastern Conference. The Blazers have won five straight and are 12-2 on the road.
Kyrie Irving‘s bid for a tying 3-pointer bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer. Irving and Dion Waiters scored 25 points apiece for Cleveland.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 15 rebounds for Portland.
Irving passed to Anderson Varejao for the tying basket with 7.1 seconds to go, leading to a timeout for Portland. Lillard took the pass at mid-court, dribbled to the top of the key and buried the winning shot over Alonzo Gee.
Lillard’s 3-pointer with 5:47 remaining gave Portland a 104-101 lead. Lillard then found Wesley Matthews for another 3, and Aldridge’s jumper pushed the lead to 109-101 with 4:16 to play.
Matthews made a 3-pointer and Aldridge scored to make it 114-104 with 2:15 remaining.
Irving then scored nine straight points for the Cavaliers, including a three-point play with 33.8 seconds left that cut the lead to 116-114. After Aldridge missed in the lane, the Cavaliers called timeout with 16.5 seconds remaining. Irving drove into the lane and found Varejao, who tied the game.
Waiters scored 11 points in the quarter. He missed the morning shootaround after banging knees with teammate Tyler Zeller in practice Monday.
Lillard hit three 3-pointers within a span of 1:09 in the third quarter as the Blazers scored nine straight points to overcome a 69-61 deficit.
The Blazers began their four-game trip with a 35-point win in Philadelphia on Saturday in which they hit 21 3-pointers and followed that with two dramatic victories. They went 15 for 33 from long range against the Cavs.
Cleveland scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to take a 97-92 lead. Six points by Waiters and a 3-pointer by Earl Clark accounted for the run.
The game featured two of the hottest players in the league. Irving was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 29 points in three games last week. Aldridge was named the West’s top player for the third time this season after averaging 25.5 points in the Blazers’ four wins last week.
Cleveland has lost to Miami and Portland in its last two games.
JD
THIS IS CRAZY !!!!