AFP/Los Angeles

Damian Lillard scored a career high 43 points as Portland beat San Antonio 129-119 in triple overtime Friday, sending the Spurs to their second-straight heartbreaking triple overtime loss.
The reigning NBA champion Spurs also lost in multiple overtimes 117-116 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 32 and the Trail Blazers pulled away in the third overtime to top the Spurs by 10 points in front of a crowd of 18,581 at the AT&T Center arena.
“I just kept attacking. That has always been my favorite time of the game when everything is on the line,” Lillard said.
Lillard hit game-tying three-pointers in regulation and the first overtime and scored nine of Portland’s 17 points in the third overtime as the Blazers crafted their fourth-straight win.
“I was really proud of the way we kept competing,” said Portland coach Terry Stotts.
“Obviously it helps to make some big shots, but there was a lot of trust in moving the ball.”
Cory Joseph hit a game-tying shot in the second overtime for San Antonio, which became the first NBA team in 63 years to play in consecutive three-overtime games. The 1951-52 Baltimore Bullets split their contests.
San Antonio was missing NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and guard Tony Parker with injuries.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said his team tried to tough it out but couldn’t keep up in the final overtime.
“We are wearing some guys down. They did a great job under tough circumstances,” Popovich said.
The Spurs have now lost three straight games, their longest slide since they lost three in a row in January.
Tim Duncan had a season-high 32 points and Danny Green added 27 for the Spurs, who lost despite starting the first two overtimes on 6-0 runs.
In the first overtime, they scored just one more point over the next two and a half minutes.  
Lillard’s tying three-pointer came after Wesley Matthews missed a shot from beyond the arc and Aldridge got the rebound and passed it back to Lillard at the point.
Red-hot Jimmy Butler continued his scoring spree and the Chicago Bulls received a big lift off the bench from Nikola Mirotic.
Butler had 31 points while Mirotic made all six triples en route to season-best 27 Friday, and the visiting Bulls snapped the Memphis Grizzlies’ six-game winning streak 103-97.
Butler put up another top notch effort after a career-high 35-point performance in Thursday’s 103-97 win over hapless New York.
“Jimmy Butler was phenomenal again,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.  
“Niko was terrific throughout. I give him a lot of credit for being ready.
Mirotec entered the contest averaging 7.4 points per game and 34 per cent from behind the arc before the former Real Madrid Spanish league star forward broke out with a 10-13 shooting effort in 30 minutes.
“We had a huge contribution from him,” said fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, who had just six points and 10 rebounds.
“He was a key to winning this game. I’m happy to see him play well.”
Aaron Brooks netted 17 points off the bench, Joakim Noah contributed 10 with 13 rebounds for Chicago (17-9), which again played without All-Star guard Derrick Rose (illness) and top reserve Taj Gibson (right ankle injury).
Mike Conley had 21 points, Slovenian Beno Udrih added 15 but exited with a right hand injury in the fourth quarter for Memphis (21-5), which shot a frigid 39 per cent from the floor to fall to 12-2 at home.
“We weren’t making shots that we normally make, they took away the paint and we didn’t make many threes either,” said Spanish centre Marc Gasol following a 13-point, 10-rebound outing. “That’s a bad combination to win games.”
The defensive-minded Bulls led 51-43 at halftime behind 15 points by Mirotic and 12 more from Butler.
The Grizzlies chipped away and pulled within three a few times in the fourth quarter before Conley’s 3-pointer made it 99-97 with 13.8 seconds left.
Reserve E’Twaun Moore made his first two free throws of the season and Butler added two more as the Bulls improved to 12-4 on the road.