Damian Lillard hits buzzer-beating three-pointer to seal Portland Trail Blazers series win over Oklahoma City Thunder
Written by News on 24/04/2019
Damian Lillard capped a 50-point game by sinking a long three-pointer as time expired to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 118-115 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night and a five-game series win.
Lillard set a franchise playoff scoring record as the Trail Blazers clinched the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Paul George scored 36 points for the Thunder, while Russell Westbrook collected 29 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
Oklahoma City led by 15 points with 7:45 left but Portland got back to within 107-98 on back-to-back dunks by Moe Harkless, the latter coming with 5:50 remaining. Enes Kanter got the Blazers within 108-100 on a lay-up with 5:14 to play.
Lillard drained a three-pointer, but Westbrook answered with a trey of his own to make it 111-103 with 4:26 left.
Harkless sank a pair of free throws to cut it to 111-105 but George scored on a twisting lay-up to extend the Thunder’s lead to 113-105 with 3:52 remaining.
CJ McCollum scored on a runner to trim the difference to 113-107, then banked in a shot to make it 113-109 with 1:39 to go. Two foul shots by Harkless cut it to 113-111 with 1:22 remaining.
McCollum tied it at 113-113 on a jumper with 57.1 seconds left, but George pushed Oklahoma City back ahead 115-113 with a basket with 39.4 seconds on the clock.
Lillard tied the game with a lay-up with 32.8 ticks left. After a Westbrook miss, the Blazers rebounded and got it to Lillard, who hit the series-clinching bomb at the buzzer.
Oklahoma City jumped to a 16-6 lead in the first four minutes, with George hitting his first four shots and scoring nine points. George was 6-of-6 before missing, staking the Thunder to a 37-29 advantage after one quarter. George had 15 points and Lillard 19 in the quarter.
Lillard kept going, scoring 15 more points in the second quarter as Portland took a one-point 61-60 half-time edge. George had 20 points and Westbrook 12 for the Thunder before the break.
Portland used a 12-2 run to go in front 84-75. Oklahoma City responded with a 15-2 tear to go ahead 90-86 late in the third quarter. The Thunder took a 90-88 lead into the final period.
(c) Sky News 2019: Damian Lillard hits buzzer-beating three-pointer to seal Portland Trail Blazers series win over Oklahoma City Thunder
