Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard made three free throws with one second remaining Thursday night to complete yet another fourth-quarter comeback win this season.
Miami’s Trevor Ariza fouled Lillard as he attempted a three-pointer with the score tied 122-122, and Lillard converted at the free-throw line to give the Blazers a 125-122 victory.
The win ended a two-game slide for Portland, which started a four-game trip against the Heat.
Lillard finished with 22 points and nine assists. But the stars of the night for Portland were CJ McCollum and Enes Kanter.
McCollum, who struggled shooting in four of his five first games back from a broken foot, made 14 of 25 shots and 6 of 14 threes to finish with a game-high 35. Kanter went for 18 points and 16 rebounds with nine offensive rebounds.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers (26-18) moved back into a tie with Denver (26-18) for sixth place in the Western Conference.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
McCollum in the first half made 11 of 13 shots, going 6 of 8 on threes, to score 29 points in 18 minutes while leading the Blazers to a 59-58 lead at halftime. The lead wasn’t larger because Miami made 8 of 18 threes (44.4%) and shot 52.4% overall in the first half.
The Heat continued to shoot well in the third quarter. Miami turned a 64-64 tie into a 76-70 lead before Blazers forward Robert Covington hit a three to trim Portland’s deficit.
The Blazers worked their way to a 91-88 lead with seconds remaining in the third quarter, but then Miami’s Tyler Herro banked in a three at the buzzer to tie the game.
Miami got out to a better start in the fourth quarter and led 110-100 with 6:19 remaining. The Blazers responded with an 11-0 run that ended with a McCollum layup followed by a Lillard layup that gave the Blazers a 111-110 lead with 3:48 remaining.
The teams went back and forth from there until Kanter came up huge. First, he rebounded a missed three by Carmelo Anthony from the left corner and kicked the ball back out to Covington up top to the right for a three that gave Portland a 117-116 lead. Then, trailing 118-117, Kanter rebounded a McCollum miss and put the ball back up and in to give the Blazers a 119-118 lead with 40.4 seconds remaining.
But Miami’s Bam Adebayo came back for another short shot to give the Heat back the lead, 120-119.
At the other end, McCollum drove inside and found Derrick Jones Jr., who dunked over Duncan Robinson, who was called for a foul. Jones made the free throw against his former team to give Portland a 122-120 lead with 13.9 seconds remaining.
Once again, though, Adebayo found a way to score inside to tie the game at 122-122 with 10.8 seconds left. That led to Lillard’s final shot attempt and the game-clinching free throws.
SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OUT
Anthony came off the bench for 20 points while making 4 of 7 threes. Anfernee Simons, who hadn’t played since McCollum returned six games ago, saw 20 minutes of action and scored nine points while making 3 of 6 threes.
Herro had 29 points and eight assists for the Heat. Adebayo made 13 of 16 shots for 29 points and had seven assists and nine rebounds.
The Heat shot 47.1% on threes (16 of 34) and 56% overall. Of the team’s 47 field goals (84 attempts), 35 came on assists.
NEXT UP (Blazers’ schedule)
The Blazers’ four-game trip continues Friday at Orlando (15-29).
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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