Wesley Matthews and Damian Lillard started off quietly, but all that mattered on Tuesday night was that they finished.
The two combined for 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help the Trail Blazers squeak out a win in a game they almost let slip away.
Behind the late contributions from the backcourt and a near triple-double from Nicolas Batum, the Blazers defeated the league-worst Milwaukee Bucks 116-111 in overtime at the Moda Center.
Damian Lillard scored with 4.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime after the Bucks missed four free throws in the final two minutes.
“The ball wasn’t going in,” Lillard said. “They felt good coming off my hands, but I just wanted to stay with it. I knew there was going to come a point in the game where I had to make a shot. We won the game, and when the game was on the line I was able to get it done.”
After a gut-wrenching loss on Sunday in which they gave up an 18-point lead to the Golden State Warriors, Batum felt that there would not be a letdown no matter who came to play at the Moda Center.
“Maybe the last game, it affected us a little bit so we could play anybody tonight, we’d be the same. So, I’m just glad we got the win,” he said.
“Nic kept us afloat in the first half,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
One game after missing a second free-throw that could have sent Sunday’s game into overtime, Batum made five of his first six shots and scored 16 of his 21 points in the first quarter as he sensed the Blazers needed a boost.
“We got off to a slow start. We let them get confidence early, so I just tired to be aggressive to keep us in the game,” Batum said.
Batum was doing a little bit of everything to get his points: three-pointers, pull-up jumpers and getting to the foul line as he scored over 20 points for the third straight game to go along with nine rebounds and nine assists.
Robin Lopez finished with his 26th double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Despite Batum’s effort, the Blazers trailed after the first quarter by three and needed a boost.
Portland’s bench unit helped the Blazers get some much needed energy in the second quarter.
It was provided by Mo Williams, who continues to shoot the lights out with LaMarcus Aldridge out of the lineup, and Thomas Robinson provided the energy.
They helped jump-start the Blazers’ second quarter when they outscored Milwaukee 26-18.
Williams finished with a season-high 23 points to go with three assists and making the first shot of the overtime period, and Robinson finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.
However, amid the spurts of good play from a few of the Blazers, they were never able to put the game completely out of reach from the Bucks in a game that featured 23 lead changes.
Behind 23 points from Ramon Sessions and 24 points and eight assists from Brandon Knight, the Bucks were able to stay with the Blazers.
Matthews picked up things in the second half and would finish with 26 points and Lillard, who only scored five points in the first three quarters, finished with 20.
The most frequent sentiment from the locker room was that they can move on after a game they’d rather forget.
