The Trail Blazers returned home to host the Pacers after spending almost the last two weeks on the road, and Damian Lillard returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games due to injury.
Both ended up being happy returns.
All five of Portland’s starters scored in double figures, including 21 from Lillard, to blow past Indiana 116-100 in front of a crowd of 17,479 Sunday night at Moda Center.
“I just wanted to come out and just get back in the flow, fly around a little bit, see how I felt, I felt really good,” said Lillard. “Just being out for so long I got to see some things that I felt like I could have come in and had an impact on the team right away, just getting the ball moving, creating opportunities and creating situations for guys to continue to do what they’ve been doing.”
Damian Lillard Highlights (21 points) | Portland Trail Blazers | Dec. 4, 2022
The Trail Blazers are now 13-11 overall and 5-5 at home this season.
After a first half that saw 10 lead changes, five ties, an eight-point Pacers’ lead and a seven-point Trail Blazers’ advantage, Portland opened the game up in the third quarter. The home team used a 15-2 run and an 11-2 run to build a 22-point lead, which Indiana would cut into only slightly before the end of the third.
“They fight, they play with pace, they screen, they fly around, they’ve got a lot of actions that can be tricky if you don’t communicate, if you’re not sharp,” said Lillard of the Pacers. “We were trying to figure out a few of their actions that they kept hurting us on, Chauncey addressed it at halftime, we came out in the third and we knew what we were trying to do. And then we were able to take the game over once we tightened up defensively and got out in transition and got that ball moving.”
Indiana did just enough in the fourth to keep Portland on their toes and their starting lineup in the game, although they never got the lead down to fewer than 11. Portland eventually pushed the lead back to 17, allowing Chauncey Billups to rest his starters in the final two minutes heading into a three-day break.
“Coming from Utah, that’s a really tough back-to-back,” said Billups. “So it was good to have a game that didn’t come down to the wire, but it wasn’t an easy win at all.”
Jeremy Grant Highlights (28 points) | Portland Trail Blazers | Dec. 4, 2022
Jerami Grant led Portland with 28 points, five rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes. Grant has now scored at least 25 points in six-straight games for the first time in his career.
Anfernee Simons went for 22 points after setting a new career-high the night before in Utah while also posting six assists, three rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes. Jusuf Nurkic had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in 28 minutes, and Josh Hart finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while also logging three steals and three assists.
As for Lillard, he looked sharp in his return, going 7-of-16 from the field and 5-of-10 from three for 21 points while also handing out six assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes.
“I didn’t want to try to go too hard,” said Lillard. “I wouldn’t say I wanted to ease into the game either, but I was just trying to create situations and create opportunities and be more manipulative than too aggressive and too forceful. I think it paid off for me.”
The Trail Blazers will now have an off day and then two days of practice before hosting the Denver Nuggets Thursday night at the Moda Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm