Lillard scores 37, Blazers beat Spurs 147-127 to stop skid

PORTLAND,Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard had 37 points and 12 assists, and thePortland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs 147-127 on Mondaynight to stop a three-game losing streak.

Jusuf Nurkicadded 25 points and 11 rebounds for the struggling Blazers, who hadlost eight of their previous 10 games.

KeldonJohnson scored 20 points for the Spurs, who have lost seven oftheir last eight games and sit second-to-last in the WesternConference standings, just above the Houston Rockets.

Thehigh-scoring first half ended with the score knotted at 74. TheBlazers started to pull away late in the third quarter, whenLillard hit a 3-pointer that gave them a 103-95 lead.

RookieShaedon Sharpe added a 3 and then dunked to give the Blazers a108-97 lead. Lillard made another 3 from just inside Portland’spinwheel logo at center court.

“We separatedourselves in that third quarter. We played the way we need to playfor most of an NBA game, separated ourselves and then obviouslyfinished the game. It was a great offensive game and a betterdefensive effort in the second half,” Lillard said. “Right now wecan’t complain about how we get them. We won the game.”

Portland ledby as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter to run away with thewin.

The Blazersrebounded from a loss to the Lakers on Sunday night, when they blewa 25-point halftime lead for a 121-112 loss.

Portlandcoach Chauncey Billups spoke to the team before the game againstthe Spurs. While not revealing details of the chat, he said he usedthe quote: “Adversity has a way of introducing a man tohimself.”

Afterward, hepraised the team for bouncing back.

“What we didtonight is really, really hard to do. In my experience, just beingaround, losing a game like we lost last night, it usually has alasting impact on you,” Billups said. “And I’m really proud of myguys for being able to put it aside and just move on and just worryabout the Spurs. It’s really, really hard to do. I’m really proudof my dudes for being able to have the mental fortitude to doso.”

The Blazersled 40-38 lead after the first quarter. Tre Jones’ driving layupput the Spurs up 57-53. But Lillard was fouled on a 3-point attemptwith just over a minute left before halftime and hit all of them,giving the Blazers a 72-67 lead.

“We’rescoring enough points, we’re not getting enough stops. A lot ofcredit goes to Damian tonight. He was great. He got the better ofus, a great player. He’s who he is, and we couldn’t stop him,”Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

TIP-INS

Spurs: It wasthe first of a three-game road trip. Next up are the Los Angelesteams. ... The Spurs had eight players in double figures. ...Jeremy Sochan finished with 18 points.

TrailBlazers: The Blazers won the first two meetings against the Spursearlier this season. ... Portland is mostly healthy, with only GaryPayton II playing limited minutes. ... Anfernee Simons finishedwith 26 points. ... Portland’s record for most points in a game is156.

MOVING UP

Lillard hadseven 3-pointers, moving him into seventh all-time in the leaguewith 2,283.

Lillard nowhas 42 career games with 30 or more points and 10 or moreassists.