CJ McCollum scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 29 and the Portland Trail Blazers overwhelmed the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime Friday to win, 140-135, in the first Orlando-area seeding game for both teams.
Portland (30-37) built a first-half lead then surged ahead 75-62 in the third quarter before a 22-6 Memphis run pushed the Grizzlies (32-34) ahead. The Trail Blazers played from behind for much of the fourth quarter, but remained within striking distance.
Two 3-pointers from Carmelo Anthony in the final 1:23 gave Portland the lead, including a 124-122 advantage with 37.5 seconds remaining. Brandon Clarke, who scored 21 points for Memphis off the bench, responded with a game-tying basket.
Ja Morant led a breakaway off of a defensive rebound in the closing seconds, but got tangled with a defender and was unable to get off a shot.
Morant, the Grizzlies' leading scorer on the season at just under 18 points per game, finished with 22 points Friday. He had only two points on 1-of-5 shooting at halftime, but came to life to lead the third-quarter run.
Morant scored seven consecutive points over one stretch, capped with a spectacular dunk off a lob from Clarke. Morant returned the favor to Clarke in the fourth quarter with one of his 11 assists, but Clarke was hit with a technical foul on the ensuing celebration.
The technical marked a critical turning point. Memphis went ahead by seven points on the dunk, but Portland began a 12-4 run over the next 2:21. Neither team led by more than two points for the remainder of regulation.
That changed in overtime. McCollum knocked down a 3-pointer, followed immediately by another from Gary Trent Jr. for three of his 17 points off the bench. Trent went 4 of 5 from 3-point range for the game and McCollum went 3 of 6 on an afternoon in which the Trail Blazers went 13 of 30 from deep.
Jaren Jackson Jr., who matched McCollum's game-high 33 points, went 6 of 15 from 3-point range. However, Memphis shot just 13 of 41 from outside as a team.
The Grizzlies came into the NBA bubble in the Orlando area with a 3 1/2-game lead for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Portland was one of three teams just behind Memphis for the final postseason berth.
--Field Level Media
Memphis | Portland | |
Jaren Jackson Jr. 33 | Scoring | CJ McCollum 33 |
Ja Morant 11 | Assists | Damian Lillard 9 |
Brandon Clarke 7 | Rebounds | Zach Collins 9 |
Brandon Clarke 7 | Free Throws Made | Jusuf Nurkic 8 |
De'Anthony Melton 3 | Steals | Mario Hezonja 3 |
Brandon Clarke 2 | Blocks | Jusuf Nurkic 6 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Memphis | 135 | 45.2 | 13-41 | 38-50 | 25 | 39 | 5 | 9 | 13 |
Portland | 140 | 53.8 | 13-30 | 29-34 | 27 | 42 | 9 | 10 | 17 |