INDIANAPOLIS -- The Portland Trail Blazers started a three-game trip off about as well as one could expect in the first half of Thursday night's contest versus the Pacers. The second half, however, left far more to be desired.
After taking a six-point lead after the first two quarters, the Trail Blazers were outscored 63-51 in the second half to come away with a 106-100 loss to the Pacers in front of a crowd of 16,872 Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“I thought we played a really good game," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "Defensively for the most part, we were solid. The second quarter was outstanding defensively. The third quarter, the fouls and the free throws, affected that quarter but we made a nice comeback. We gave up too many loose balls, too many long rebounds in the fourth quarter."
The Trail Blazers are now 26-34 overall and 10-21 on the road this season. The loss also breaks Portland's five-game winning streak versus Indiana, a run that included back-to-back season series sweeps.
The Blazers are now three games behind the Grizzlies for the eighth-seed in the West with 22 games to play.
Despite playing their fourth straight game without Damian Lillard (right groin strain), the Trail Blazers got Thursday's game off to an impressive start. Though they trailed by six after the first quarter, Portland held the Pacers to 13 points in the second and went on a 10-1 run to take 49-43 lead into the intermission.
But the Pacers flipped the game in the third, going on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 60-60 after a Victor Oladipo three-pointer midway through the quarter. Indiana would follow up that run with a 13-3 rally at the end of the quarter, and would eventually outscore Portland 37-26 to take a 70-65 lead into the fourth and final.
"I think the game kind of got slowed down, a bunch of fouls, free throws," said Carmelo Anthony. "It was kind of bogged down in that third quarter. They want to play a style like that in the halfcourt, stop the clock and foul. I think that where it when when they went on their run."
The Pacers took their largest lead of the night at 96-82 after a T.J. Warren three with just over six minutes to play, and from there, it looked as though the night might be just about over for the remnants of Portland's regular rotation.
Rather than calling it a night, the Blazers managed to chip away at the advantage over the next five minutes, getting the lead down to 100-103 after a McCollum floater with 30 seconds to play. But on the ensuing possession, Domantas Sabonis found Turner wide open for a three, which he made with 9.1 seconds to play, to ice the game.
“They went on a run, we had some turnovers, I had a couple turnovers and they got out and got easy baskets and got to the free throw line," said CJ McCollum. "Some of it was fouls, some of it was questionable, but they still shot free throws. In the fourth quarter they just beat us."
McCollum led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-27 shooting from the field while also adding eight assists and three rebounds in 38 minutes. Gary Trent Jr, starting in his fourth game in place of Damian Lillard, went 7-of-15 from thee field and 4-of-8 from three for 20 points to go with five rebounds and a steal in just under 41 minutes.
Hassan Whiteside put up yet another double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds while also blocking four shots. Carmelo Anthony finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds.
Six Pacers finished in double figures led by Domantas Sabonis, who overcame foul trouble in the first half to finish with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Malcom Brogdon finished with 17 points, eight assists and both T.J. Warren and Victor Oladipo added 15 points.
Next up, the Trail Blazers head to Atlanta to finish their season series versus the Hawks Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.