Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson. The Blazers won 113-105. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Even Cleveland's late rally couldn’t rattle the confident Trail Blazers.
CJ McCollum scored 29 points and Portland won its NBA-best 11th straight game with a 113-105 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.
The Cavs made it uncomfortable for Portland late, when they closed the gap to three points.
“It came at a time when we would have liked it not to come,” Damian Lillard said. “We cut it really close. But you can’t complain about how you get it — and we got another one.”
Lillard added 24 points for the Blazers, on their longest run since also winning 11 in a row in 2013. It was the Blazers’ eighth straight win at home.
LeBron James had 35 points, including a highlight-reel dunk in the first quarter that had the fans at the Moda Center momentarily stunned. He also had 14 rebounds. Kyle Korver added 19 points.
“We sustained our energy, we sustained our effort and we left everything out on the floor,” James said. “Even being short-handed we still wanted to play the caliber of basketball we are accustomed to playing, and I think we did that.”
The Blazers, currently sitting in third in the Western Conference standings, led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. Portland kept the margin at double digits well into the final period, but James and George Hill made layups to get the Cavaliers within 105-99 with 3:25 to go.
Other NBA results:
- Toronto 106, Indiana 99
- Charlotte 129, Atlanta 117
- Philadelphia 118, New York 110
- Chicago 111, Memphis 110
- Houston 101, L.A. Clippers 96
- San Antonio 98, New Orleans 93
- Denver 120, Detroit 113
- Utah 116, Phoenix 88
- Portland 113, Cleveland 105