The Memphis Grizzlies welcomed the Portland Trail Blazers for a matchup at FedEx Forum Wednesday night. Portland came ready to play in the third game of the season series despite dropping the first two last weekend. In a key game in the West’s playoff race, 5 players scored in double figures for Portland en route to an easy win.
“We [were] definitely ready to play,” Anthony said. “You could sense it. You could feel it that we were locked in, and we knew how important this game was for us.”
Ending the game early
The first half was all Blazers, who took a 15-point lead after the first quarter and extended it to 28 by halftime. However, Portland’s largest lead of the half was 33 points. Stellar guard play kept Portland in the driver’s seat. Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Norman Powell combined to go 18 of 27 from the field in the first half.
Portland was never in real jeopardy of slowing in the second half, although the Grizzlies cut the lead to 17. After scoring the most first-half points of any Memphis opponent this season with 74, Portland (34-28) went on to take a 130-109 victory over the Grizzlies (31-30).
Portland earning its place
With the win, Portland moved two games ahead of Memphis and San Antonio, who dropped their game against Miami Wednesday night. Portland now sits alone in 7th place for the Western Conference and just a half-game behind Dallas for 6th.
McCollum led the way for Portland with 26 points and 6 assists, and Powell added 24 points. Lillard finished with 23 points, while Carmelo Anthony dropped 18. Jusuf Nurkic also pitched in with 15 points and 9 boards.
McCollum was very straightforward in his assessment of the game. “We came on their court and kicked their [butts],” he said.
Jonas Valancuinas led the Grizzlies with 19 points, while Dillon Brooks added 18. Jaren Jackson Jr. dropped 13 points, and Ja Morant added 10 points with 8 assists on a tough 3 of 11 from the field. The loss came as the second straight for the Grizzlies.
Up Next
Portland will continue a 6-game road stretch on Friday, facing the Brooklyn Nets at 5:00 p.m. PDT.
