NEW YORK (AP) – Damian Lillard had 32 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Brooklyn Nets 128-109 on Friday night to remain unbeaten halfway through a critical road trip. Lillard scored 22 points in the second half as the Blazers broke away late in the third quarter to snap the Nets’ four-game winning streak.
Jusuf Nurkic added 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who are 3-0 on their trip as they try to fight their way out of seventh place in the Western Conference and avoid having to appear in the play-in tournament.
Kyrie Irving had 28 points for the Nets, who rested Kevin Durant after scoring 42 points at Indiana on Thursday.
Brooklyn had its lead over Philadelphia for the East No. 1 seed cut to a half-game ahead of a five-game trip that starts Sunday with the first of a pair of games in Milwaukee. The Nets aren’t home again until the last week of the regular season.
The Blazers started their trip with a 133-112 rout at Indiana and a 130-109 victory at Memphis, winning consecutive road games by 20-plus points for the first time in two years.
They could have gotten there again, but Harry Giles was called for a technical foul with the Blazers up 20 with 10.2 seconds left.
Leading by one with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the third, Portland opened the first sizeable cushion for either team with an 18-4 run. Lillard hit a pair of 3-pointers from beyond 30 feet in the spurt, including a 34-footer that capped it and gave the Blazers a 94-79 lead.
Portland put it away with another big spurt after leading by eight with just over nine minutes remaining.
Carmelo Anthony had 15. … Portland picked up a national TV appearance Friday when its home game against the Lakers next Friday was added to the ESPN schedule.
Nets: Coach Steve Nash said Durant told him that he wanted to play in the game when they spoke earlier Friday. “So I had to be the Grinch and tell him that that’s not on,” said Nash, who has said his preference is that Durant not play both ends of back-to-backs. … G Bruce Brown missed his third straight game with right knee soreness, but Nash said all indications were that he would play Sunday.
HOPE FOR HARDEN?
James Harden missed his 13th straight game with a strained right hamstring, and Nash said he’s “probably still a ways away” from returning. Nash said he didn’t see any point in speculating whether Harden would play again in the regular season.
“So let me avoid the question and say we’ll see,” Nash said.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit Boston on Sunday.
Nets: Start two-game series at Milwaukee on Sunday.
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