Damian Lillard continued his scoring spree with 50 points, matched his season high of 13 assists and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 139-129 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.
Lillard made 14 of 23 shots from the field — including 8 of 12 from 3-point range — to become the first player in franchise history to record three straight efforts of 40 points or more. Lillard has scored 158 points in the three games, beginning with a franchise-record 61 against Golden State on Monday and 47 against Dallas on Thursday.
Lillard has made at least eight 3-pointers in each game and has 27 during the stretch.
CJ McCollum scored 28 points and made six 3-pointers for the Trail Blazers after missing the previous three games because of an ankle injury.
Jeremy Lamb scored 28 points and Domantas Sabonis had 27 points, 14 rebounds and a career-best 11 assists for the Pacers, who lost for just the second time in their past nine games. Indiana dropped its 11th straight game at Portland.
NBA legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash earlier Sunday at the age of 41, and both teams remembered him at the outset of the game.
The Trail Blazers won the tip and let the 24-second clock run out without attempting a shot. The Pacers took possession and did not cross midcourt in the mandatory eight seconds — the numbers 24 and 8 representing what Bryant wore during his stellar 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Pacers trailed by 17 early in the fourth quarter before Justin Holiday connected on a 3-pointer to complete a 13-4 burst and bring his club to 116-108 with 8:18 remaining.
Indiana later was within seven points before Lillard scored eight straight points — including two 3-pointers — to give the Trail Blazers a 129-114 lead with 4:22 remaining.
The Pacers made one last push to cut the deficit to nine points. But Lillard made two free throws to reach 50 points for the night and make the score 137-126 with 1:26 left en route to Portland closing out the victory.
Hassan Whiteside contributed 21 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots and Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who shot 54.4% from the field and 20 of 35 from 3-point range.
Doug McDermott made six 3-pointers while scoring 19 points for Indiana.
Indiana was without Malcolm Brogdon (concussion) and Myles Turner (illness).
Lillard scored 23 first-half points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field as the Trail Blazers held a 66-56 lead at the break. Sabonis scored 18 before halftime for Indiana.