Basketball: Lillard scores 50 as Blazers down Pacers on sombre day

PORTLAND (REUTERS) - Damian Lillard continued his scoring spree with 50 points, matched his season high of 13 assists and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 139-129 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Sunday night (Jan 26).

Lillard made 14 of 23 shots from the field - including eight of 12 from three-point range - to become the first player in franchise history to record three straight efforts of 40 points or more.

He has scored 158 points in the three games, beginning with a franchise-record 61 against Golden State on Monday and 47 against Dallas on Thursday.

He has made at least eight three-pointers in each game and has 27 during the stretch.

C.J. McCollum scored 28 points and made six three-pointers for the Trail Blazers after missing the previous three games because of an ankle injury.

Jeremy Lamb scored 28 points and Domantas Sabonis had 27 points, 14 rebounds and a career-best 11 assists for the Pacers, who lost for just the second time in their past nine games. Indiana dropped its 11th straight game at Portland.

NBA legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash earlier Sunday at the age of 41, and both teams remembered him at the outset of the game.

The Trail Blazers won the tip and let the 24-second clock run out without attempting a shot. The Pacers took possession and did not cross mid-court in the mandatory eight seconds - the numbers 24 and 8 representing what Bryant wore during his stellar 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lillard said before the game: "I don't even know how we are supposed to play this game tonight. It makes you sick to your stomach. It is disturbing.

"It is bigger than just our heroes and the people we look up to dying. It goes deeper than that."

Elsewhere, Zion Williamson had his first double-double as an NBA player, and the New Orleans Pelicans won for the first time with him in the line-up, 123-108 over the visiting Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Williams, the top pick in the 2019 NBA draft, had 21 points and 11 rebounds in his third game after preseason knee surgery.

Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 25 points, and Derrick Favors added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Lonzo Ball added a career-high 15 assists to go with eight points.

All-Star guard Kemba Walker led the Celtics with 35 points, Gordon Hayward scored 23, and Jaylen Brown, returning from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury, added 20.

Before the singing of the national anthem, the Pelicans held a 24-second moment of silence in honour of Bryant.

When the game began, the teams followed the lead of the Spurs and Raptors earlier in the day by dribbling out the shot clock in Bryant's honour on their first possessions.

In Atlanta, Trae Young responded in an emotional way to the death of Bryant by producing 45 points and 14 assists to help the Hawks defeat visiting Washington 152-133.

Young began the game wearing No. 8, Bryant's original jersey number, before changing into his usual No. 11. He also wore Bryant's No. 24 on the back of his shoes.

It was the eighth time this season Young has scored 40-plus points. He was 13 of 24 from the floor, 13 of 16 from the line and had six rebounds.

Five other players scored in double figures: De'Andre Hunter with 25, Kevin Huerter with 18, John Collins with 16, Bruno Fernando with 14 and Cam Reddish with 13.

Bradley Beal had 40 points and six assists for Washington, who had six other players score in double figures.

Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Landry Shamet and Montrezl Harrell added 19 points each as the Los Angeles Clippers used a third-quarter charge to notch the 112-97 road win over Orlando Magic.

Lou Williams scored 15 points as the Clippers improved to 4-1 on their season-long six game road trip. Leonard extended his career-long streak of 30-point games to eight.

Michael Carter-Williams scored 15 points as the Magic lost their third consecutive game and fell for the fifth time in their past six games.

In New York, Knicks' Reggie Bullock fuelled a decisive third-quarter run by hitting back-to-back three-pointers - including the basket that gave New York the lead for good - in their 110-97 victory against visiting Brooklyn.

Julius Randle had 22 points and 15 rebounds as the Knicks won for just the third time in 13 games.

Marcus Morris Sr scored 21 points, Taj Gibson scored 11 points and Bullock added 10 points. Mitchell Robinson (12 points) and Frank Ntilikina (11 points) each scored double digits off the bench.

Spencer Dinwiddle scored 23 points for the Nets, who have lost six of seven and are 3-14 since Christmas.

In Denver, Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, Jerami Grant scored a season-high 25 points and the hosts beat short-handed Houston 117-110.

Michael Porter Jr and Monte Morris scored 17 points each, Will Barton had 11 and Malik Beasley 10 for the Nuggets.

The Rockets played without NBA leading scorer James Harden due to a left thigh contusion that head coach Mike D'Antoni said might keep him out of Monday's game at Utah.

Pascal Siakam scored 35 points, 30 of them in a dominating first half, and Fred VanVleet hit the decisive three-pointer in the final minute as visiting Toronto earned a 110-106 victory over San Antonio.

It was the Raptors' seventh straight win, tying their season best.

Ja Morant scored 23 points to lead three Memphis players scoring 20-plus as the hosts Grizzlies held off Phoenix 114-109 .