The Portland Trail Blazers avenged a difficult road loss to the Atlanta Hawks last week with a resounding victory Friday night in Portland. After the Blazers jumped out to a double-digit first half lead, leading by as many as 14, the Hawks rallied to make it a six point game at the break. Portland cruised in the second half en route to a 110-89 victory. CJ McCollum led the Blazers with 20 points and six assists. Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 14 points.
A few takeaways from tonight’s game:
- Second half clean-up. The Blazers committed 11 first half turnovers, with Atlanta scoring 16 points off of the miscues. In the second half, Portland committed just seven turnovers, with the Hawks scoring only four points off of them.
- The return of Angry Nurk. After exchanging words with Taurean Prince in the second quarter, Jusuf Nurkic played with a renewed aggression. He finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.
- Hawks shooting woes. Atlanta shot just 36% from the field and 31% from the three-point line. The Blazers shot 54% from the field and 43% from deep.
Highlights
Collins does it all! Denies, gets offensive board, assists #ripcity pic.twitter.com/2I6qKXLgZU
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 6, 2018
Chief out here scoopin' and scorin' pic.twitter.com/GP75y7p30L
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 6, 2018
Patty lob, Patty lob, Blazers points #ripcity pic.twitter.com/IHpjEttXbs
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 6, 2018
Chief has arrived with a two-handed jam #ripcity pic.twitter.com/V0ul48dsTv
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 6, 2018
In this case, two wrongs do make a right #ripcity pic.twitter.com/aELxEzYo5e
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 6, 2018
Shabazz loses the tip, ends up finishing the transition bucket anyways #ripcity pic.twitter.com/dMLWYtWXXT
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 6, 2018
What’s Next
Portland hosts the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at Moda Center with a scheduled 6 p.m. PT tip. Stay tuned for more analysis on tonight’s game from Blazer’s Edge.