DETROIT — The Portland Trail Blazers are looking like one of the top contenders in the Western Conference. With a new addition, they look to be primed for another playoff run.
For much of the first three quarters against the Pistons, they looked like world beaters, especially from beyond the arc. They needed a fourth-quarter surge to pull away and take a 124-101 win at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.
They were in good hands with their All-Star guard, Damian Lillard, who had 33 points and 10 assists. Lillard had 16 points in the third quarter, including 10 in the first four minutes, and the Blazers (29-18) pulled away with an opening surge in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play by Norman Powell (14 points) and a 3-pointer by Robert Covington.
The Pistons (13-34) were shorthanded, with only 11 players available, with continuing injuries on the roster. Sekou Doumbouya (migraine) and Wayne Ellington (calf soreness) were out. With that, the Pistons relied on their bench, which outscored Portland’s 51-31, but the starting unit didn’t have the same production.
Jerami Grant had 28 points and four assists and Mason Plumlee 18 points, but the other three starters combined for just two points.
The Pistons led, 52-51, at halftime, but Lillard's hot start to the third quarter included a pair of 3-pointers. It was a 12-4 to open the second half, with a pair of free throws and an alley-oop for Plumlee, which pushed the lead to 63-56 and the Blazers kept pouring it on.
They added another 7-2 run to increase the margin to double digits, with a pair of free throws by Jusuf Nurkic, and the Pistons trimmed some of that away with a 16-5 spurt, with a 3-pointer and three-point play by Hamidou Diallo, to get within 75-70, after Isaiah Stewart’s second 3-pointer of the game.
Lillard finished the quarter with another surge, scoring six points, and Carmelo Anthony (16 points) added eight in the final five minutes, for an 87-79 lead entering the fourth.
The Pistons opened with a put-back by Frank Jackson, but a pair of free throws by Anthony and a three-point play by Powell pushed the lead back to 11.
Every time the Pistons seemed to get close, the Blazers had an answer, and Lillard’s 3-pointer with 6:00 left made it a 15-point margin, and the Pistons didn’t get within single digits the rest of the way.
