It didn’t come easy, but the depleted Portland Trail Blazers managed to hold on and not lose to one of the worst teams in the league, staving off the Detroit Pistons 107-104 at the Moda Center.
A 23-2 Blazer run in the first quarter made it look like the night was heading towards a blowout, but the Pistons answered back with a 19-3 run of its own in the second quarter to close the gap and erase any delusions of relaxation.
CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony combined for 73 points, led by McCollum’s 41-point near-triple-double, but otherwise didn’t get a lot of help.