Portland Trail Blazers vs Orlando Magic Box Score on Dec 15, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 15, 2017

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Damian Lillard scored 21 points and CJ McCollum added 20 as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Orlando Magic 95-88 Friday.

The Blazers won their second straight game while handing the Magic their fourth straight loss.

Al-Farouq Aminu added 15 points as the Trail Blazers (15-13) swept the season series.

Nikola Vucevic led an injury-wrecked Orlando (11-19) team with 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Jonathon Simmons and D.J. Augustin added 15 and 14 points, respectively. Aaron Gordon, who returned to the Magic after missing three games with a concussion, had 13 points before leaving the game midway through the fourth quarter with a right calf strain.

Lillard had 13 third-quarter points as he gave Portland its biggest lead of the game on a driving lay-up that made it 71-54 with 5:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Orlando closed to 75-69 on Marreese Speights' 3-pointer with 11:12 remaining, but the Blazers went on a 10-0 run to take an 85-69 lead on a Zach Collins' alley-oop with 8:04 left.

The Magic closed to within five points twice, the last at 93-88 on a Simmons lay-up with 26 seconds to play, but Aminu answered with a dunk that concluded scoring,

Aminu was 3 of 4 from 3-point range and was complemented by balanced scoring that helped Portland turn an early six-point deficit into a double-figure lead.

Portland's biggest lead of the first half came on a Lillard 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining that made it 48-35, but Orlando cut that to 50-43 at halftime despite Gordon picking up his third foul midway through the period.

Despite shooting just 39.1 percent (10 of 24), Portland managed a 24-20 first-quarter lead with Aminu and McCollum combining for 14 points. Gordon got off to a strong start, making four of his first five shots for 10 first-quarter points, but Orlando lost its early lead by missing eight of its final 10 shots.

NOTES: Trail Blazers C Jusuf Nurkic (sprained ankle) started, but was on a minutes restriction; he finished the night playing 25 after missing the last three games. He led Portland with 11 rebounds. ... Portland is now 6-2 on the road against Eastern Conference teams this season. Shabazz Napier had 19 points in the Trail Blazers' 99-94 win back on November 15. ... Magic coach Frank Vogel got in a one-liner during pre-game availability when asked if Gordon's minutes would be limited in his return. "48," Vogel said. ... Magic G/F Arron Afflalo missed his second straight game due to back spasms. ... Orlando F Jonathan Isaac practiced for the first time since his Nov. 11 ankle sprain on Thursday, but did not play Friday. ... Also out: Evan Fournier (ankle sprain) and Terrence Ross (knee sprain). ... The Magic sent Khem Birch to its Lakeland (Fla.) G league team.