The Portland Trail Blazers were seemingly cruising toward one of their easiest and most decisive victories of the season Friday night.
But Brook Lopez had other ideas.
The veteran center had his most productive game in years and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the Blazers their third consecutive defeat, 119-103, before 17,839at the Moda Center.
Lopez torched the Blazers from his first shot to his last Friday, making a career-high nine three-pointers and scoring a season-high 31 points.
He kept the Clippers within arm’s reach early, scoring eight of their first 10 points, and 19 in the first half. And he delivered a couple back-breakers late, swishing back-to-back three pointers during a game-changing Clippers run in the third-quarter that gave them their first lead of the night.
It was Lopez’s most prolific performance since April 24, 2023, when he scored 36 points for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
How unlikely was his eruption Friday?
Lopez had scored just 25 points and made six three points in all of December before the game and his previous high this season was 15 points. That came opening night and he has finished in double-figures just five more times since.
But Lopez was dominant Friday, torching Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams III and every other Blazers big man who tried to contain him. Lopez made 9 of 16 shots, including 9 of 14 threes, while adding five rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes.
Even so, the Blazers were in control for more than two quarters, building a 12-point lead as Deni Avdija was playmaking and scoring, Toumani Camara was playing inspiring defense and James Harden and the Clippers looked disinterested. But Los Angeles (9-21) caught fire early in the third quarter and rode the momentum to their third win in a row.
The game changed in the third, when the Clippers reeled off a 19-1 run to turn a double-digit deficit into a 78-72 lead with 2:55 left. Lopez capped the run with back-to-back threes.
The Clippers went on to outscore the Blazers 26-7 over the final 8:16 of the quarter, and Portland never recovered.
Top performers
Harden finished with 34 points and six assists and Kawhi Leonard had 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Clippers. Forty-one of the duo’s points came in the second half after Lopez caught fire, which forced the Blazers to loosen their double-teams and traps on the Clippers’ All-Stars.
Avdija finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and Camara added 20 points for the Blazers.
Next up
The Blazers host the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Moda Center.