Lillard scores 33, Trail Blazers beat Pacers 111-102

They have strengthened their place in the final eight of the Western Conference as they are three victories ahead of the eighth ranked Houston Rockets (who have a 29-30 record), and four wins away with the Utah Jazz (who are in the ninth place with a 28-30 record). The Trail Blazers won the first of two meetings between the two teams back on December 3rd, as they were victorious over the Pacers 123-111.

The Pacers couldn’t slow down the Trail Blazers offense as Portland shot 50 percent from the field and 58 percent from beyond the arc. The Knicks have gone 2-3 in their last five, so it is a very winnable game for Terry Stotts’ squad.

IN has covered the spread in four of its last five games coming off a loss and the “due theory” is at play tonight with the Pacers, who have failed to cover in three straight games. This time, he got off to a hot start against IN and did most of his damage IN the opening quarter to help Portland take an early lead.

Reserve guard Gerald Henderson’s 3-pointer – Portland’s 14th – with 5:37 remaining gave the Trail Blazers a 109-88 advantage, prompting a Pacers timeout.

“I think we’re going to have a great finish to our season and I think we’re going to win a lot of games”, Vogel said hours before the Pacers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers shook off a nice IN run to take a 10 point lead into halftime. “We needed to contain their guards better and regulate their screens better”. They beat the Pacers 111-102 today. Then, George Hill countered with a 3-pointer to put IN back IN front.

He had 10 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists while battling flu-like systems during Wednesday’s win over Washington.

Portland is off Monday before traveling to NY to play the Knicks on Tuesday.

The Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet tonight with both teams on the back end of a back-to-back, but with LeBron James resting last night and IN playing on the road, things don’t look good for the Blue and Gold.