The Portland Trail Blazers played a scintillating third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, pulling past a first-half deficit and making a run at their first victory in seven outings. It was not to be, though. Damian Lillard’s desperate effort to keep his team afloat in the fourth wasn’t enough to bail out ineffective defense. The Blazers dropped the ball, and the game, against Memphis 113-103.
Lillard finished the evening with 21 points but shot only 6-21 from the field. The big asterisk: he was an impressive 5-11 on three-pointers. Norman Powell led the Blazers with 25 while Anfernee Simons contributed 22 off the bench.