Sabonis has 23 pts, 15 boards as Pacers down Blazers 111-87

Indiana Pacers figured if y slowed down Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, y'd have a good chance against Portland Trail Blazers.

tactic worked. Domantas Sabonis h 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Indiana held Portland's dynamic backcourt duo in check for a 111-87 victory Thursday night.

Malcolm Brogdon ded 25 points and seven assists for Pacers, who improved to 4-1 on ro this season and snapped an 11-game losing streak in Portland. Indiana led by 25 in second quarter and maintained a double-digit vant rest of way.

McCollum and Lillard each scored 22 for Blazers, playing second of a back-to-back.

“We talked about it as a team before game — we've got to keep ball out of Lillard and McCollum’s hands as much as we can and try to make m really work for everything y get,” Indiana's Doug McDermott said.

loss was costly for Portland: During third quarter, center Jusuf Nurkic left court holding his right wrist and Blazers later anunced he h sustained a fracture.

Trail Blazers (7-5) won in Sacramento 132-126 on Wednesday night. Lillard h a season-high 40 points in that one and Portland tied a franchise record with 23 3-pointers.

Blazers le NBA in 3s but y were off against Pacers, making just 13 of 43 (30.2%).

Pacers (8-4) were coming off a 104-95 ro victory over Warriors on Tuesday night, when Myles Turner h a season-best 22 points. He finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Blazers, along with four blocks.

Pacers tred Victor Olipo to Rockets as part of four-team blockbuster Thursday that sent James Harden from Houston to Brooklyn. Indiana got guard Caris LeVert from Nets and a draft pick in deal.

“We lost a very good player, but this team is going to play very good ball,” Brogdon said.

Indiana led by six in opening quarter, but score was tied at 26 going into second. A 12-0 run capped by McDermott's layup put Pacers up 40-28.

Indiana extended its le to 25 before going into halftime up 59-36. Pacers outscored Blazers 33-10 in second period.

Portland was hurt in third when Nurkic heed to locker room after appearing to injure his right hand. Blazers anunced he fractured his wrist, but ditional details were t available.

Lillard was asked how Nurkic was doing after game.

“Frustrated. Disappointed. A little s,” Lillard said. “Like anybody would be in that situation.”

But Blazers chipped away at Indiana's le, pulling to 82-71 late in third on Carmelo Anthony's 3-pointer.

“I thought Myles and Domas — ir aggressive mentality in all actions, ball screens and pin downs — our guys did a great job of communicating and backing each or up,” Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren said.

TIP-INS

Pacers: Sabonis has 107 double-doubles with Pacers, one shy of tying Roy Hibbert for seventh in team history. ... Pacers hn't won in Portland since 2007. ... T.J. McConnell returned after missing three games because of birth of his son.

Trail Blazers: Portland's 10 points in second quarter were a season low. ... McCollum, who is from Ohio, punctuated his postgame chat with reporters by exclaiming, “Go Browns!” Cleveland plays Kansas City Chiefs in NFL playoffs on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Pacers were scheduled to play Suns in Phoenix on Saturday, but that game was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols. Indiana's next game is at Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Trail Blazers host Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.

Im credits: AP