The last time the Trail Blazers and Hornets faced off less than two weeks ago, Charlotte used an early fourth-quarter run to turn what was a close game into a blowout. The Trail Blazers returned the favor in the second and final game of the season series, albeit a quarter earlier.
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The Trail Blazers would hold the Hornets to just two points through the first six minutes of the second half and would go on to lead by 20 in the third quarter on the way to a relaively easy 115-98 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,393 at the Moda Center.
With the win, Portland is now 22-28 overall and 14-10 at home this season. The Trail Blazers finish the month of January with an 8-7 record, are 4-1 in their last five and are now a game behind the Denver Nuggets for the 8th-place in the Western Conference standings.
The night didn’t start off all that well for the home team, as the Trail Blazers missed their first eight shots before Damian Lillard got Portland on the board with a three-pointer just after the first three minutes of play. Luckily for the Trail Blazers, the Hornets weren’t any better, scoring just four points in the first six minutes of the first quarter.
Portland would go on to shoot just 32 percent from the field in the first quarter, but thanks to 14 points from Lillard and a turnover-less quarter for the team overall, the Trail Blazers were able to take a 28-23 lead into the second quarter.
The Trail Blazers would push their lead to 14 early in the second quarter after back-to-back threes from Meyers Leonard and Allen Crabbe. But the Hornets, mostly thanks to Kemba Walker’s scoring, went on a 22-11 run to cut Portland’s lead to three after a Frank Kaminsky layup with 2:17 to play in the first half. Another Crabbe three and a Lillard fadeaway to end the half gave the Trail Blazers a 56-50 lead into the intermission.
That would be as close as the Hornets would get for the night. The Trail Blazers locked the road team down for the first half of the third while scoring at a healthy enough clip to go up 82-62 after two Leonard free throws with just over two minutes to play in the quarter.
Portland would push their lead to 24 in the fourth before coasting to the 17-point victory.
The Trail Blazers were led by Lillard, who went 10-of-18 from the field for 27 points, four rebounds and four assists in just under 31 minutes. Allen Crabbe shot 50 percent from both the field and three to finish with 21 points while also grabbing five rebounds in 29 minutes.
CJ McCollum also shot 50 percent from both inside and outside the arc on the way to 18 points while also adding four assists, three steals and two rebounds in 26 minutes. Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard combined to score 22 points off the bench.
The Hornets were led by Walker, recently named reserve on the Eastern Conference All-Star team, went 8-of-18 for 22 points in 32 minutes.
Next up, the Trail Blazers finish off a five-game homestand by hosting the Mavericks on Saturday AEDT.
