Portland Trail Blazers vs Charlotte Hornets Box Score on Dec 16, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 16, 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- CJ McCollum scored 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers held on for their third straight victory with a 93-91 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night at the Spectrum Center.

The Blazers led by 16 points early in the fourth quarter but had to go back to work after the Hornets fought back to tie at 87 in the final five minutes. Ultimately, Portland held on when Charlotte's Kemba Walker missed a 3-pointer at the final buzzer. The Trail Blazers didn't make a field goal in the final four minutes.

Portland (16-13) has defeated Miami, Orlando and Charlotte in the last four days on five-game road trip. They are now 9-5 on the road for the season.

McCollum was 10 of 17 from the field with four 3-pointers on a night when the Blazers shot 46.3 percent from the field and were 10 of 24 from 3-point range.

Portland also got 18 points and 11 assists from Damian Lillard and 14 points from Jusuf Nurkic.

The Hornets (10-19) have now lost three straight and 10 of their last 12.

Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 23 points. Jeremy Lamb scored 15 and Walker finished with 14. Dwight Howard had nine points and 15 rebounds.

The Blazers led 24-20 after one quarter, 49-37 at halftime and 74-67 after three quarters. The biggest lead was 16 at 83-67 early in the fourth quarter.

NOTES: This was the first of two meetings between the teams this season. They'll play in Portland on Feb. 8. ... Both teams were playing on the second night of a back-to-back. The Blazers won 95-88 in Orlando on Friday and the Hornets lost at home to Miami 104-98. ... The Blazers were fully healthy and the Hornets were without F Cody Zeller (left knee surgery). ... The Hornets are now 2-6 since coach Steve Clifford left the team to deal with an unspecified health issue. There is still no time frame on Clifford's return. ... This was the fourth of a five-game road trip for the Blazers. They will conclude the trip on Monday at Minnesota. ... Blazers G Damian Lillard came into the game seventh in the NBA in scoring at 26.1. ... The Hornets are now 0-12 when scoring fewer than 100 points. ... The Hornets were playing the second game of a four-game homestand. They will host New York on Monday night.