Damian Lillard on Thursday night sent Portland into the NBA’s first play-in series with 42 more points and a crucial steal, helping the Trail Blazers escape with a 134-133 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Trail Blazers secured the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference only after Brooklyn’s Caris LeVert, who scored 37 points, missed a jumper just before time expired. Portland is to play ninth-seeded Memphis today. If the Grizzlies win, the deciding game would be tomorrow.
The winner of the play-in series gets the final spot in the West and a first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Photo: Ashley Landis / USA TODAY Sports
Portland came into the day in eighth place, but would have fallen out of playoff position with a loss, thanks to victories earlier on Thursday by Memphis and Phoenix. Had the Blazers lost, the Suns would have inched ahead of them into ninth.
Lillard would not let the Blazers fall, following his previous two games of 51 and 61 points.
He chased down LeVert for a steal with Portland clinging to a two-point lead with 1:12 to play, setting up CJ McCollum’s free throws that made it 134-130.
Photo: Ashley Landis / USA TODAY Sports
LeVert came back with a three-point play and had a chance to win it after Carmelo Anthony missed a 3-pointer, but his jumper was off.
Unlike the Grizzlies and Suns, who romped in their afternoon games, the Blazers needed to go all the way to the wire to beat the Nets. Portland scored 73 points in the first half, but led by only six after Brooklyn shot 59 percent.
LeVert then scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, part of what became a 17-3 run as Brooklyn turned an eight-point deficit into a 91-85 lead.
A 3-pointer by Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot extended the lead to 102-92 with 1:46 left in the period and the Nets took a 104-97 advantage to the fourth.
Lillard then hit a couple of 3s — one with a foot touching the logo near midcourt — during a 12-4 surge that wiped out a seven-point deficit and put Portland back on top 112-111.
Brooklyn would later go back on top by five before the Portland pulled it out.
McCollum had 25 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Blazers, who went 6-2 in the seeding games.
Joe Harris and Luwawu-Cabarrot each scored 19 points for the Nets, who finished 5-3. They were already locked into a first-round series with defending champion Toronto, but played their starters as if they needed the win.
In other games on Thursday, it was:
‧ Grizzlies 119, Bucks 106
‧ Jazz 118, Spurs 112
‧ Wizards 96, Celtics 90
‧ Magic 133, Pelicans 127
‧ Kings 136, Lakers 122
Additional reporting by Reuters
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