The Portland Trail Blazers refused to let it be easy, but yet again took care of business on the road to hold off a moderately inspired Charlotte Hornets squad 118-108 thanks to some heroics from Rodney Hood.
Portland looked as if they would run away with it from the get-go, opening up a 30-15 gash in the first quarter behind Damian Lillard, but Jeremy Lamb came off the bench to almost single-handedly salvage the afternoon for Charlotte. Lamb had 13 points in the quarter - more than the rest of his teammates - and perhaps lit a spark that turned what could have been a walk in the park blowout to something the Blazers had to work a little bit harder for.