PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — C.J. McCollum scored 31 points, including two clinching free throws with 2.7 seconds left, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz 115-111 on Sunday night.
Damian Lillard had 30 points and five assists for Portland, which has won 14 of 17 overall. Reserve Maurice Harkless scored 17 points, and Ed Davis had 11 on 4-for-4 shooting.
Lillard made a tiebreaking layup with 23.4 seconds left and McCollum hit two foul shots to give Portland a 113-109 lead. After Derrick Favors scored for Utah, McCollum made two more free throws to clinch the win for the Trail Blazers.
Favors paced the Jazz with 22 points and eight rebounds. Gordon Hayward scored 21 points, and Rodney Hood had 18.
Utah lost for the third time in four games and is in ninth place in the West. Portland remained in seventh, a half-game behind Dallas for sixth.
The Jazz had a 62-49 lead in the third quarter before Lillard drained four consecutive 3-pointers in a 90-second span. McCollum tacked on a 3 of his own, capping a 15-1 run that made it 64-63 with 6:56 left.
Shelvin Mack scored a season-high 16 points and had six assists for the Jazz, who acquired the backup point guard at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
After falling behind 8-0 and missing its first six shots, Utah scored its first points nearly four minutes into the game. The Jazz eventually got going and reeled off a 21-2 run behind a suffocating defense that forced eight turnovers and limited Portland to 35 percent shooting.
The Blazers took better care of the ball in the second quarter, committing just one turnover, but their deficit ballooned to 13 before they closed with a 7-0 spurt to trim Utah’s lead to 52-47 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Jazz: Mack and Hayward were collegiate teammates for two seasons at Butler (2008-10), losing to Duke in the 2010 national championship game. . C Rudy Gobert brought a five-game double-double streak into Sunday’s game. He finished with seven points and eight boards.
Trail Blazers: Lillard became the first player in NBA history to make 150-plus 3-pointers in his first four seasons in the league.