Monday 22 April 2019 12:31, UK
C.J. McCollum scored 27 points and Damian Lillard added 24 as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-98 on Sunday night to earn a crucial road win.
The win gave the Blazers a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series, giving Portland a chance to finish off the series at home on Tuesday night.
Sunday's victory snapped an eight-game road playoff losing streak for the Blazers and gave the road teams an 8-0 record over the weekend in the NBA playoffs.
For the second consecutive game, Lillard had a big third quarter. In Friday's Game 3, it was not enough as the Thunder got back into the series with a win. But in Game 4, Lillard's 15 third-quarter points -- after missing his first six shots of the game and having only five points at the break -- helped the Blazers take back full control of the series.
Oklahoma City led by seven late in the second quarter before Portland scored the final 11 points of the half over the final 2:28. Five of those quick points before the half came from Lillard.
That stretch came with Thunder forward Paul George on the bench. George picked up his third foul with more than nine minutes remaining before halftime and remained on the bench until the start of the third quarter.
But without George, the Thunder initially responded well, with an 11-2 stretch immediately before the Blazers' strong finish to take the lead into halftime.
Early in the third, the run extended to 16 consecutive points by the Blazers before the Thunder finally broke through, but by late in the third, Portland had built a 79-60 lead.
George and Russell Westbrook got off to a hot start, going 6 of 13 from the floor in the first quarter. But from there on out, the pair were just 7 of 29. George finished with 32 points to lead the Thunder while Westbrook had 14 points on 5-for-21 shooting.
Both teams hit 15 three-pointers. In each of Portland's wins in the series, the Blazers have held the Thunder to less than 100 points.
Game 5 takes place in Portland in the early hours of Wednesday morning (3:30am)
