It wasn’t pretty, but The Portland Trail Blazers hung on to outlast the Charlotte Hornets 115-112 Monday night in a duel of guards at the Moda Center.
It wasn’t as easy as it should have been. After a slow start, Portland put together a complete second quarter where it built a 16-point halftime lead that looked like the beginning of an easy and relaxing night, only for it to evaporate almost instantly in the third.
The Hornets refused to die, and behind Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier, took the Blazers down to the wire, where Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum managed to out-clutch their younger yet impressive counterparts.