The game meant nothing to the Nets and everything to the Trail Blazers, who were fighting for their playoff lives. But the Nets put an incredible scare into Portland before Caris LeVert missed a 20-foot jumper at the buzzer in a tense, well-played 134-133 loss Thursday night at Disney World in Orlando.
After leading by 10 points late in the third quarter, the Nets saw the Trail Blazers put together a 12-4 fourth-quarter burst to take a 112-111 led on a pair of CJ McCollum foul shots with 8:13 left to play. Lillard hit a pair of threes in that span.
The Nets responded with a 6-0 surge to lead 122-117 on a Jarrett Allen hook at the 5:15 mark.
The teams would trade the lead three more times in the final 2:53. LeVert converted a three-point play with 37.7 seconds left to cut the Nets' deficit to one, but after Carmelo Anthony missed at the other end, LeVert held the ball as the clock wound down and decided not to drive against the defense of Gary Trent Jr., settling for a step-back jumper he missed.
LeVert had a brilliant game with 37 points, nine assists and 6 rebounds to lead six Nets (35-37) in double figures. Joe Harris and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot each had 19 points, Tyler Johnson added 16, Garrett Temple totaled 15 and Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Nets shot 55.2% from the field. Damian Lillard was too much for the Nets, leading the Blazers (35-39) with 42 points and 12 assists. CJ McCollum added 25 points and seven assists and Josef Nurkic totaled 22 points and 10 rebounds.
While the Trail Blazers' season was on the line, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said his team wanted to be competitive but primarily was focused on preparing for a first-round playoff matchup against the NBA defending champion Raptors that begins Monday afternoon. Vaughn demurred when asked if the Nets had an obligation to the Suns and Grizzlies, the two Western Conference teams tied with Portland for eighth at 34-39 when the game began.
"We can't think about the basketball machinations," Vaughn said. "That's not on us to be involved in. It's about the Brooklyn Nets, our organization, what's going ton be best for this group moving forward, how we continue to have rhythm and keep our guys healthy. We didn't set the schedule. We played it, we played it to the best of our ability, and we'll continue to keep it that simple."
The Suns and Grizzlies had to be heartened by a first period in which the Nets overcame a six-point Trail Blazers lead and came back to tie the opening quarter at 31 after shooting 55.0% from the field. Portland's Lillard came in averaging 37.0 points per game in the bubble and was coming off successive games of 51 and 61 points, but the Nets held him to just five points in the first quarter.
Lillard began heating up in the second period and hit a layup that gave Portland its biggest lead at 69-61 shortly before halftime, and the Trail Blazers took a 73-67 halftime lead, outrebounding the Nets, 25-15 in that span. At the same time, the Nets shot 59.1% in the opening half, and LeVert had 18 points and seven assists to offset Lillard's impact.
The Nets trailed by eight midway through the third quarter when LeVert scored six straight points to trigger an extended 26-8 run that pushed the Nets' lead to a game-high 10 at 102-92 when Johnson, who had seven points in that span, hit a three-pointer. When the third period ended, the Nets held 104-97 lead, were shooting 59.7% and had the Blazers' season in peril.
