PORTLAND, Ore. _ You can't start the second half of a road game shooting 1-of-9 from the field and expect to survive.
That's what happened to the Charlotte Hornets against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. That drought started the Hornets down the course of being outscored by 12 during the third quarter. The Blazers rode that to a 115-98 victory at the Moda Center.
The loss was the Hornets' fifth in a row, dropping them to 23-26. The Blazers improved to 22-28.
This was a dramatic reversal from the previous Hornets-Blazers matchup in Charlotte. The Hornets won that game 107-85 on Jan. 18, starting a three-game winning streak. The Hornets haven't won since that streak and face a daunting pair of games out West: Wednesday against the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors and Saturday against the Northwest Division-leading Utah Jazz.
The Blazers got 27 points from point guard Damian Lillard and 21 off the bench from guard Allen Crabbe. Hornets point guard Kemba Walker finished with 22 points.
