Portland Trail Blazers

Portland Trail Blazers

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Jake Layman Buries The Pelicans

----- Jake Layman goes wild as the Trail Blazers rip the New Orleans Pelicans 128-112 Friday night at Moda Center.

Jake Layman made an emphatic statement Friday night at Moda Center.

After three-straight games scoring in double-figures as a starter in place of the injured Maurice Harkless, Blazers coach Terry Stotts returned Layman to the bench. Harkless got the start, but Layman responded by erupting for 20 points in the second quarter powering the Blazers to a 128-112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Layman finished with 20 points connecting on 4-for-9 from three-point range. He finished four points shy of his career high 24 points he scored against the Phoenix Suns back in December. Over his last four games, Layman is averaging 16 points on 73% shooting.

“I’d say when a player like that – any player – gets on a roll like that, it’s fun to watch," Stotts said. "You could see the enthusiasm in his eyes. He was scoring in different ways, the crowd getting behind him. Those things are special.”

The Blazers offense was on fire in the first half as they connected on 54.7% of their shots. The 42 points scored in the second quarter tied their season-high for points in a quarter and their 74 first half points was their highest-scoring half of the season. The Blazers led 74-58 at halftime and cruised to an easy victory.

Portland (28-19) has now won six-straight games at Moda Center and have won seven of their last 10 games overall.

Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 24 points and eight assists and got 20 points from CJ McCollum on 8-for-12 shooting. Jusuf Nurkic followed up his triple-double on Wednesday night against Cleveland with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Harkless scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes of action after missing five games with knee inflammation.

The Blazers were aggressive on the glass pulling down 18 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second chance points.

Milestone

With the win over the Pelicans, Terry Stotts achieved career win number 300. He is the fourth active coach to reach 300 wins with their current team joining Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Rick Carlisle.

Up Next- The Trail Blazers begin a three-game road trip Monday in Utah against the Jazz. the game is scheduled to tip off at 6:00 PM.

Chad's Take- Jake Layman should be starting at small forward. 


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