Video Recap: Pistons Nip Blazers, 125-124 (2OT)

Another close game for the Portland Trail Blazers, as they battled the Detroit Pistons into overtime. But Detroit made the big plays down the stretch, sealing a double-overtime win in Portland. The big story for the Blazers was Allen Crabbe, who came off the bench for a career night, and CJ McCollum, who personally carried the Blazers through the overtime periods.

Neither team played defense in the first quarter, as Detroit led 31-30. However, Crabbe took over in the second, scoring 17 points (five less than Detroit) and leading the Blazers to a 56-53 halftime lead. Yet again, the defense broke down for both sides in the third quarter, but Portland took advantage, keeping an 87-80 advantage at the buzzer. But things fell apart in the fourth. Detroit focused on mismatches, taking a 4 point lead with one minute left, and by 3 with 24 seconds remaining.

But out of the timeout, CJ McCollum got himself open from three. Swish. The game was tied with 8.3 seconds remaining.

Detroit couldn’t score at the buzzer, and the game went to overtime. Neither team could score to start, until McCollum got another look at a three-pointer. Then a layup. McCollum personally kept the Blazers ahead by 1 with two minutes left. Reggie Jackson gave Detroit the lead with one minute left, though. With the game on the line, the Blazers lost control of the play, leading to a Mason Plumlee 20-footer. It missed. Another Detroit layup led to a familiar situation: A 3 point Pistons lead with just over 24 seconds remaining.

This time, they went to, well, McCollum again. Swish again. And the game was tied again. And again, Detroit couldn’t score. Double overtime.

Guess who? CJ again! With a little help from Al-Farouq Aminu, he led the team to a 3 point lead with 2:10 left. The lead reached 5, but Detroit quickly cut it to 2 with one minute left. The Blazers’ defense came up big, forcing a Jackson turnover at halfcourt. Detroit in turn forced a Blazers turnover with 12 seconds left. Portland was still up by two. But Caldwell-Pope got a little space on the inbound pass, and nailed a three-pointer.

Detroit led by 1 with nine seconds left, but Portland had the ball. They went to McCollum, but he missed a midrange jumper. And the Blazers lose a tough double-overtime thriller.

The Blazers were led by Allen Crabbe (career-high 30 points), McCollum (35 points, 6 assists) Damian Lillard (20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists), Plumlee (8 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) and Aminu (16 points, 8 rebounds).

Video Highlights

What’s Next

The Blazers have one game on the road, Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Stay tuned tonight though, Dave Deckard has plenty of analysis about this contest.

Blazer’s Edge Night 2017

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