NBA: Damian Lillard hits 11 triples as Blazers dismantle Wolves
Damian Lillard hit his career high of 11 3-pointers and scored 38 points in three quarters of the game to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to an easy 133-112 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. on Monday night.
Lillard missed just six of his 17 3-point attempts to hit a franchise record total of 11 for the third time. He also scored 12 points in a knockout against the Denver Nuggets in the first series on June 1, 2021.
⌚ 38 points in just 29 minutes
11:3 p.m.@Dame_Lillard was on another level tonight pic.twitter.com/6cBd9bIKBJ– NBA (@NBA) December 13, 2022
Jerami Grant added 24 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and 16 rebounds as Portland completed two clean sweeps of Minnesota. Shaedon Sharpe had 14 points and Anfernee Simons added 12 for the Trail Blazers.
D’Angelo Russell has scored 23 points and eight assists for the Timberwolves, who are trailing 1-2 on their five-game trip. Anthony Edwards and Jaylen Nowell each scored 17 points and Rudy Gobert contributed 16 points and 20 rebounds for Minnesota.
The Trail Blazers won the first contest with the Timberwolves 124-118 on Friday after Lillard’s 36 points.
Portland connected with 53.9% of its shots, including 21 of 46 shots from 3-point. The Trail Blazers held a 54-37 rebound advantage.
Naz Reid scored 10 points for the Timberwolves, who made 49.5% of their attempts and were 10/27 from behind the arc.
Lillard made three 3-pointers in the third quarter, the last of which marked his regular-season high with 5:45 left in this period.
Minnesota responded with a 10-3 run to move in the 91-80 before the Trail Blazers took 13 straight points. Grant made two goals in time, including the last to give Portland a 24 point advantage when the scoreline remained at 1:17.
The Trail Blazers led 106-84 into the final stanza and a 3-pointer from Simons made it 27 with 9:36 remaining. Portland has gone the rest of the way.
Lillard got 8/10 from a 3-point range while scoring 27 points in the first half as the Trail Blazers took a 70-59 lead after halftime.
Lillard had 10 points in the first half as Portland led 33-27. He then scored 17 points – making five 3-pointers – in the second half.
Russell scored 15 points and Gobert had 10 points and 15 rebounds in the first half for Minnesota.
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