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Lillard helps Blazers beat Pelicans

Nov 18, 2014 - 5:51 AM Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Damian Lillard scored 24 points with seven assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 102-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.

LaMarcus Aldridge returned from an illness to post 22 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who have won five straight. Wesley Matthews netted 16 and Chris Kaman notched 15 points with 10 rebounds in the win.

Anthony Davis finished with season high-tying 31 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for New Orleans, which has lost seven straight in Portland.

Jrue Holiday scored 14, Tyreke Evans had 13 with eight assists and Ryan Anderson chipped in with 12 points off the bench.

With Portland trailing by 15 early in the fourth, Steve Blake's 3-pointer jumpstarted an 18-4 run that Aldridge capped with a layup to cut the deficit to 87-86 with 5:40 left.

Following a pair of free throws from Davis minutes later, the Blazers tied the game when Robin Lopez hauled in a big offensive rebound off a Lillard miss and kicked it out to an open Matthews, who drilled a wing 3-pointer to make it 91-91.

Blake then found Lopez on the next possession for a layup that pushed Portland in front with 2 1/2 minutes to play.

Holiday went down low to grab two offensive rebounds, the last of which forced a foul, and he made both free throws to tie it at 93-93.

Lillard answered with a 3-ball at 1:14, then the Blazers managed to make a stop at the other end, although they allowed another offensive rebound to the Pelicans on the possession. Davis fouled Lopez in the act of shooting with 29.1 seconds left, and he converted both shots to make it a five-point game.

Holiday and Davis each missed 3-pointers coming out of a timeout as Portland completed the comeback and maintained its home dominance over New Orleans.

"I thought that was a tremendous defensive effort in the fourth quarter," said Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "When you get stops, it's easy to get a rhythm on offense."

A 17-7 run over the final 5:12 of the second quarter helped the Pelicans to a 49-42 lead at the half.

Davis then opened the third quarter with a jumper, which was a part of six points he scored during a 13-4 run for New Orleans that made it a 62-46 game with 8:12 remaining in the third.

The Pelicans shot 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the floor in the third to take an 80-68 margin into the fourth.

Game Notes

New Orleans is 3-9 over its last 12 in the series ... The Pelicans scored 21 points off 18 turnovers and had a 14-2 advantage on the fastbreak ... Portland had a 43-41 edge in rebounds ... Blake had five assists in the win ... Nicolas Batum missed his fourth straight game for the Blazers with a knee injury ... New Orleans led by as many as 16.