PORTLAND, Ore. — The Nets were game, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.
Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum each scored 34 points, and the Trail Blazers beat the Nets 112-104 on Tuesday night for their sixth consecutive victory. For the Nets, it was the first of a nine-game road trip while the Barclays Center plays host to the circus. Brooklyn has now lost seven straight away from home.
Lillard became the first player to score at least 30 points in five straight games for Portland since Geoff Petrie in the franchise’s inaugural 1970-71 season. McCollum added six assists and five rebounds.
The game was tied before McCollum and Lillard hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it 107-101 with 1:25 left. Lillard sealed the win with four free throws in the last 26.4 seconds.
Mason Plumlee added 13 rebounds as Portland (30-27) won for the 11th time in 12 games to move into a tie with idle Dallas for the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
Brook Lopez had 36 points and 10 boards for Brooklyn (15-42), which has lost three of four. Joe Johnson had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Donald Sloan scored 14 points.
The Nets trailed 68-49 early in the third before charging back for an 89-88 lead with 9:21 to play in the game.
The teams went back and forth from there, until McCollum broke the tie with 1:56 to go and Lillard followed with another 3. Brooklyn’s only points in the final 2:13 came on a Lopez three-point play with 74 seconds left, which closed the gap to three.
Portland finished with five free throws in the final minute, four from Lillard and one from Plumlee.
Lillard continued his march up the Blazers’ career scoring charts, passing Zach Randolph for 14th in points and Nicolas Batum for third on the 3-pointers made list.
Johnson is three points shy of becoming the 52nd player in NBA history to reach 19,000 career points, and the 10th active player to do so.