PORTLAND, Ore. — Guard Damian Lillard’s 14 third-quarter points were the impetus for the Portland Trail Blazers’ 115-96 romp past the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at the Moda Center.
Lillard scored a game-high 27 points, raining in seven of 11 shots from beyond the arc, while guard CJ McCollum added 20 points as the Trail Blazers (4-2) won their third consecutive game.
Guard Courtney Lee led Memphis (3-3) with 18 points. Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, and center Marc Gasol added 15 points.
Portland outscored Memphis 40-25 in the third quarter to turn a tight game into a rout. Overall, the Blazers shot 50.6 percent from the field, sank 15 of 30 shots from 3-point range and outrebounded the Grizzlies 47-36.
Trailing by four points at half, Memphis got even at 62-62 midway through the third quarter. Lillard then buried long 3-pointers to start and finish a 12-1 run that pushed Portland ahead 74-63.
The Blazers’ advantage was 88-69 after another pair of Lillard bombs from beyond the arc, and forward Ed Davis’ runner at the buzzer took Portland into the fourth quarter with a 90-71 edge.
When Lillard knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the game to give the Blazers a 95-71 lead, it was over.
Memphis ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 23-18 lead into the second period. Lillard and McCollum were a combined 1-for-9 shooting in the quarter.
Lillard and McCollum hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Plumley had a follow dunk in an 8-0 run that carried Portland into halftime leading 50-46. Lee had 12 points for the Grizzlies at the break.
NOTES: Portland F Meyers Leonard, who sprained his ankle and missed the second half of Tuesday’s game at Utah, started for the Blazers on Wednesday. He finished with 14 points and five rebounds. … Memphis C Marc Gasol, who has dealt with neck spasms for the past couple of weeks, started at Portland. … Blazers F Ed Davis, who played a season and a half with Memphis in 2012-13 and 2013-14, said a game against the Grizzlies is particularly meaningful. “The team that gave up on me, with the same coach there?” he said. “Yeah, I take that personal.” He scored nine points Thursday. … Memphis coach Dave Joerger, on how to stop Portland’s high-scoring guard tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who entered the game averaging 50 points between them: “We’ll let them score and make sure nobody else gets any. If they get 100, awesome.”