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Blazers clip Bucks in OT

Mar 19, 2014 - 6:23 AM Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Wesley Matthews scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 120-115 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Matthews finished 5-of-7 shooting from distance, including a key 3-pointer late in the extra session.

Mo Williams added 23 points and Nicolas Batum narrowly missed out on a triple- double with 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Trail Blazers, winners in two of their last three games.

Damian Lillard finished with 20 points despite going 1-for-11 from 3-point range and Robin Lopez had 15 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

"We're happy with the win, we will always take a win, ugly or pretty it doesn't matter. Credit them, they played hard. We knew they were going to do that," Matthews said.

Brandon Knight poured in a team-high 24 points, Ramon Sessions scored 23 points and Khris Middleton finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Bucks, losers in five straight.

Milwaukee led 92-91 following Ersan Ilyasova's tip-in with 3:39 left. Matthews tied the game with free throws at the three-minute mark and Lillard drilled a triple with 1:58 showing to give the Blazers a 96-92 edge.

Brandon Kight went 2-for-4 from the line to cut the deficit to two with just over a minute left and Ilyasova tied things up at 96-96 with his layup with 48 seconds remaining.

Lopez appeared to get the go-ahead basket to go with 34.5 ticks left, but it was waved off following a review for basket interference.

Sessions was sent to the line twice around a Lillard missed layup, but was just 2-for-4 allowing the Blazers to stay in it. Lillard made up for his miss and tied the game at 98-98 with just over four seconds to go and Session's deep trey didn't fall, forcing the extra session.

"He missed them, but we had other opportunities to win that game. There were other plays that could have put us in position to win the game," said Bucks coach Larry Drew. "The guys played really hard for four quarters. I told them I was very proud of their effort, I just wanted them to know."

The Blazers jumped out to a 102-98 lead less than a minute into the bonus session, but Middleton canned a trey and Zaza Pachulia cleaned up his own miss for a 103-102 Bucks lead with 2:36 left.

Portland countered with seven unanswered points to take the lead for good. Matthews started the burst with a three-point play and Lillard followed with a dunk and a step-back jumper for a 109-103 lead.

Middleton pulled up for a jumper at the other end to make it a four-point game, but Matthews delivered the dagger with a step-back three from the right wing that made it 112-105 with 1:17 left.

Milwaukee was never closer than three the rest of the way.

The Bucks led 29-26 after 12 minutes, but were outscored 26-18 in the second and Portland owned a 52-47 lead at the break. The Blazers led 77-75 entering the final frame.

Game Notes

Portland was 24-for-27 from the free throw line ... The Blazers scored 26 points off 19 Milwaukee turnovers ... Pauchulia finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Ilyasova scored 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds ... The Bucks are 1-11 against Western Conference teams on the road ... Milwaukee outscored Portland 56-46 in the paint.