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SPORTS Saturday 25 November 2017
Lillard and Nurkic lifts Trail Blazers over Nets 127-125

By ADRY TORRES see an opportunity to steal Warriors, and Cleveland Trail Blazers: Reserve for- two on their regular-season
Associated Press the ball and try to make a Cavaliers. ward Al-Farouq Aminu re- schedule. They’ll tip-off
NEW YORK (AP) — Jusuf play. It (went) in.” After cutting Portland’s mained out again with a again at noon at Boston on
Nurkic apologized to Da- Despite Lillard’s words of lead to 126-125 with 15.7 sprained right ankle he suf- Feb. 4 — the second game
mian Lillard as they strolled encouragement, he was seconds, he had a chance fered during a game Nov. of a three-game Eastern
back to their locker room, still beating himself for mak- to put the Nets ahead but 1. He’s missed his last 10 Conference road trip.
upset he had missed two ing 5 of 10 free throws. missed a 3-pointer with 4:8 games. SNAP OUT OF IT
free throws with less the “I know I am a way better seconds left. Nets: DeMarre Carroll, Ty- McCollum made 10 of
three seconds left, giving free throw (shooter) than I “I felt like it was a good ler Zeller and Trevor Booker 19 shots to rebound from
the Brooklyn Nets a chance am showing,” said Nurkic. look,” Dinwiddie said. “It each had 10 points for the Wednesday’s dreadful
to either tie or win it at the CJ McCollum chipped in bounced around the rim a Nets. shooting performance at
buzzer. 26 for the Trail Blazers, who couple of times but didn’t EARLY BIRD SPECIAL Philadelphia, in which he
All Lillard could care about found themselves down by go in.” Portland’s noon start at went 1 for 14 from the field,
was Nurkic’s heads up play 11 in the first quarter in a Brooklyn had six other play- Brooklyn was the first of scoring five points.q
a couple of seconds earlier
that eventually served as
the game-winner.
Lillard scored 34, Nurkic
added 29 and 15 rebounds,
including eight in the fourth
quarter, and the Portland
Trail Blazers rallied from a
six-point deficit late in the
fourth quarter to edge the
Nets 127-125 on Friday.
“After the game he was
telling me, ‘Man, my bad
I missed the free throws, I
did this and I this that’,” Lil-
lard recalled. “I stopped in
the hallway, I said, ‘I don’t
care about none of that,
the most important thing is
you made the biggest play
of the game’.”
Portland trailed 121-115
with 2:20 left after former
Trail Blazers’ guard Allen
Crabbe floater. The Trail
Blazers then scored the next
eight points, capped by
Shabbaz Nappier’s three-
point play with 55 seconds
left. Brooklyn’s Spencer
Dinwiddie then evened it
123 with a putback layup
after missing his own 15-
foot pullup shot. Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) chases down
Lillard then freed himself a loose ball as Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie (8)
off Dinwiddie’s tight de- defends during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game in
New York, Friday, Nov. 24, 2017. The Trail Blazers defeated the
fense as Nurkic set a pick Nets 127-125.
at the 3-point arc, diving to Associated Press
the basket as the Portland
point guard served him the post-Thanksgiving noon tip. ers score in double-figures,
ball. DeMarre Carroll then The Trail Blazers’ defense including Rondae-Hollis
slid in to help on the cover- held the Nets 0 for 5 from Jefferson had 17. Sean Kil-
age, blocking Nurkic right the field during their key patrick added 14 and Joe
under the basket. Caris fourth quarter 8-0 run, two Harris scored 14.
Levert briefly had control days after a disappointing TIP-INS
of the ball before the Trail 20-point loss at Philadel-
Blazers’ center snatched it phia. Like us on
away and put it through, “We made some good de-
drawing a foul and cap- fensive stops in the last min- Facebook
ping a three-point play ute and a half and were
with 27 seconds left to put able to convert in the other
his team ahead for good, direction,” Portland coach
126-123. Terry Stotts said.
“I learned never quit,” said Dinwiddie had 23 for the
Nurkic, who had eight re- Nets, who have lost three
bounds and two of his four straight games — the pre-
blocks in the final period. vious two to the defending facebook.com/bondianoticia
“There’s no lost possession. I champions, Golden State