8.) Rockets Grounded by Lillard and Nurkić
This is Portland’s most recent win, at the height of their winning ways.
The Rockets came into town for a TNT date with the Blazers and the matchup didn’t disappoint.
Despite being bothered by his wrist wrap all night, MVP candidate James Harden had 30 points, including a clutch three-pointer to bring the game within two. Trevor Ariza then tied the game up with a dunk with less than three minutes left.
Enter Jusuf Nurkić and Damian Lillard.
Nurkić—presumably playing with his fibular fracture—hit the spin button and finished all over his defender. Then, following McCollum’s free throws, Lillard hit a pair to give Portland a 111-105 lead.
And to put the finishing touch, Lillard hooked up a cutting Nurkić with a slick pass where Nurk threw it down all over the Houston defense.
Big Game Dame finished with 31 points and 11 assists, on a perfect 7-7 from the line. Nurkić had 19 points and 11 rebounds, having his way inside the paint.
This game rounded out the NBA’s best record in March at 13-3, quite an exclamation to the best month of the year.
Also, the best interview-bomb in NBA history:
The @trailblazers improve to 15-5 since acquiring Nurkic.
— NBA (@NBA) March 31, 2017
They close out on a 12-2 run, beat @HoustonRockets 117-107.#NBAGIF pic.twitter.com/5l8DzOYwJ1