The Portland Trail Blazers introduced guard Norman Powell and welcomed back Jusuf Nurkic on a night that Damian Lillard sat out to rest his banged-up body and won 112-105 against what might be the worst team in the NBA.
Orlando, which traded its best three players (Nikola Vucuvic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier) prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, put up a spirited fight, but the Blazers found a way to win.
Robert Covington scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and McCollum added seven of his 22 in the final period to lead the team down the stretch.
But the story of the game was Powell, who set a franchise record for points in a debut with 22 on 7 of 13 shooting while making 5 of 7 threes.
“It’s what I expect,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “He knows how to play the game. He plays the way we play. He moves well without the ball. He shoots threes. He’s in shape. I wouldn’t have said he’s going to score 22, but I had a good feeling that he would play well for us.”
Powell said he was nervous before the game but felt good about his debut.
“I just was thinking to myself to let the game come to me and try to play off the other guys and ask as many questions as I can,” Powell said.
Stotts said Lillard would “hopefully” return Sunday against Toronto, the team that traded Powell to the Blazers for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood. The plan, Stotts said, is to go with a three-guard lineup featuring Lillard, McCollum and Powell for large chunks of games. However, Stotts wouldn’t commit to naming Powell as a starter just yet.
“We’ll look at a lot of things,” Stotts said.
Nurkic also returned after missing 32 games with a broken wrist and then a strained calf. He was on a minutes restriction and finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes.
“Pretty much what I expected,” Stotts said. “He looked a little rusty. But he gave good effort and I think knocking some of the rust off will be good.”
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers (27-18) are in a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with Denver (27-18). The Nuggets won 113-108 at New Orleans on Friday night.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
Miraculously, the Blazers led just 80-77 heading into the fourth quarter against the depleted Magic (15-30). Portland built a 94-88 lead after Robert Covington hit a three, but the Magic came back and tied the game at 94-94 with 6:31 remaining.
Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, center, shoots as he gets between Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba, left, and guard Michael Carter-Williams, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
That’s when the Blazers went on a 7-0 run. McCollum hit a three after rebounding a Carmelo Anthony miss. Covington made a bullet pass to center Enes Kanter, who was sprinting toward the basket, resulting in a layup. Next, Powell knocked the ball loose from a Magic player, McCollum scooped up the ball and raced down the right side of the court to shoot an uncontested three that missed. But Covington was there for the one-handed, putback dunk that gave the Blazers a 101-94 lead with 4:49 to go.
The Magic hung around the rest of the way, but the Blazers routinely made a key basket to prevent Orlando from ever having the ball down one possession the rest of the way.
With under a minute on the clock, McCollum’s determined drive to the basket against Chuma Okeke resulted in losing him with a spin move in the lane and then hitting a floater to give the Blazers a 110-103 lead with 39.9 seconds left.
SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OUT
Covington made 4 of 6 shots with 3 of 5 threes to reach 15 points to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.
Anfernee Simons came off the bench to play 25 minutes and made 5 of 7 shots (all threes) to finish with 15 points.
Kanter returned to his backup role behind Nurkic and came off the bench to score 15 points and grab 15 rebounds in 29 minutes. He made 7 of 10 shots.
SHOWED UP AND FIZZLED
McCollum scored 22 points but made just 8 of 26 field-goal attempts and 2 of 11 threes.
Nassir Little played 18 minutes off the bench and missed all four of his shot attempts to finish with zero points.
NEXT UP (Blazers schedule)
Portland’s four-game trip continues Sunday against Toronto (18-17) in Tampa, where the Blazers will face Trent and. Hood. The Raptors lost 104-100 to Phoenix (30-14) Friday. Trent started in his Toronto debut and scored eight points on 4 of 11 shooting while missing all five of his three-point attempts. Hood came off the bench to score two points in 18 minutes.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories
