PORTLAND -- There’s a good argument to be made that the Trail Blazers were lucky to trail by just six points going into the half versus the Grizzlies Wednesday night. Between Portland giving up an alarming number of open three-pointers and Memphis dominating the offensive glass, it took Anfernee Simons going 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from three for 14 points to keep the deficit in check.
Though with the way they played in the second half, it might not have mattered anyway.
Thanks to an increased focus on defense and shots coming easy on offense, Portland outscored Memphis by 39 points in the second half to turn a close game into a 116-96 blowout in front of a crowd of 16,241 at Moda Center.