Achiuwa leads Raptors to 123-105 win over Trail Blazers

PORTLAND,Ore. (AP) — Precious Achiuwa scored 27 points and grabbed 13rebounds in place of the injured OG Anunoby to lead the TorontoRaptors to a 123-105 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers onSaturday night.

Pascal Siakamscored 24 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 19 against his formerteam for the Raptors, who led by as many as 23 and never trailed.Scottie Barnes had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

The Raptorswere without Anunoby after he injured his left wrist Friday againstGolden State. Coach Nick Nurse said X-rays were negative, but theteam was still awaiting results of an MRI taken Saturday. Achiuwastepped up in Anunoby’s absence.

“He was inthe right place at the right time a lot tonight and that’s a goodsign that he’s making himself available,” Nurse said. “He madereally good reads and (teammates) found him and he made a couple ofplays on his own.

“I was happythat he was available because teams will step up to Pascal whenhe’s driving.”

DamianLillard scored 30 points and Jerami Grant 28 for Portland, whichhad 12 turnovers that led to 22 points for Toronto. The TrailBlazers were also outrebounded 45-27.

Lillard’s3-pointer cut the Raptors’ lead to 94-90 with 8:41 left, but thatwas the closest the Blazers would get.

“They cameout and imposed their will against us,” Blazers coach ChaunceyBillups said.

The Raptorsanswered with baskets on their next three possessions to make it100-90 and forcing a timeout by the Blazers with 7:24 left. Blazerscoach Chauncey Billups was called for a technical foul during thetimeout and Fred VanVleet extended the lead to 101-90.

A 3-pointerby Siakam made it 108-90 to send Portland fans to the exits.

“You’re onthe road in a tough environment and they really banded togethertonight really well,” Nurse said.

Nurse wasalso proud of the job Toronto did on Lillard, who was averagingover 38 points in his last 10 games entering Saturday.

“It was apretty hard working 30,” Nurse said.

Torontojumped out to a 37-14 lead after the first quarter, shooting 69%from the field while the Trail Blazers shot just 27%.

“I think thebad starts have become a trend,” Lillard said of the Blazers, whofell to 2-3 on their six-game homestand. “They came out with moreenergy than we did and more urgency than we did and they jumped outon us.

’It was anuphill battle from that point on.”

The Blazersmade a few runs in the first half, getting within 12 at 51-39 aftera 3-pointer by Nassir Little. It wasn’t long before the Raptorsextended their lead again. Achiuwa had two three-point plays tohelp the Raptors take a 63-44 lead into the break.

Grant hit a3-pointer to open the second half and Portland cut into the deficitto make it 68-56.

BehindGrant’s scoring and better defense, the Blazers cut the Raptors’lead to 88-83 heading into the fourth quarter. In addition toGrant’s 14 points in the third quarter, Anfernee Simons scored onconsecutive possessions to end the quarter, including abuzzer-beating layup.

“Any time youdig yourself a hole in this league, on the one hand, you can alwaysget back into the game because teams play so fast and the game isso long,” Lillard said. “On the other hand, you’re wearing yourselfout trying to get yourself back into the game because you have tobe close to perfect.”

TIPINS

Portland CJusuf Nurkic (calf) and F Josh Hart (hamstring) both missedSaturday night’s game. Without two regular starters, the Blazersinserted C Drew Eubanks and Little into the starting lineup.

INTHE CROWD

Actor WillFerrell was sitting courtside. After being introduced to the crowd,most of the arena stood to welcome him.