Lillard scores 51 as Blazers stun Warriors

PORTLAND, Oregon — Portland’s Damian Lillard scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a stunningly dominant 137-105 victory over the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors on Friday.

The Warriors lost for only the fifth time this season, and looked well below their best in their first game back from the All-Star break.

Golden State were one of three divisional leaders to lose on the day; Oklahoma City were beaten at home by Indiana, and Toronto were defeated by an undermanned Chicago.

In another key result, Miami won at Atlanta to leave the teams in a virtual tie atop the Southeast Division.

Portland’s C.J. McCollum added 21 points for the in-form Blazers, who have won nine of 10 to improve to 28-27, the first time they’ve been over a .500 winning percentage since they were 3-2 on November 4.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points and five assists but it was not nearly enough to prevent an end to the team’s 11-game winning streak.

The Blazers used a stifling defence throughout the game, but especially in the third quarter when they forced the defending champions into 13 turnovers.

Indiana’s Monta Ellis scored 27 points to help the Pacers win 101-98 at Oklahoma City.

Paul George had 22 points and 10 assists for the Pacers.

Kevin Durant had 31 points while Russell Westbrook contributed a career-high 18 assists for the Thunder, who suffered a surprising home loss after coming into the game with 14 wins from their previous 16.

Chicago shook off the absence of three players, and a five-game losing skid, to beat Toronto 116-106.

Doug McDermott had a career-high 30 points and Derrick Rose scored 26 points for a Bulls team minus Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah because of injuries.

Kyle Lowry had 27 points for the Raptors.

Miami also won in the absence of key players, taking a 115-111 victory at Atlanta.

The Heat are without Chris Bosh due to a blood clot, and also lost Dwyane Wade just before the game due to knee soreness.

Luol Deng stepped up in their absence as he scored 30 points and Josh McRoberts had 19; season highs for each player.

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 23 points.

Utah’s Derrick Favours had 23 points and 10 rebounds to help the Jazz beat Boston 111-93.

Gordon Hayward added 22 points for the Jazz which got back to an even 27-27 record.

Isaiah Thomas had 25 points for the Celtics, who missed a good chance to make up ground on Toronto in the Atlantic.

San Antonio beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-113 in the final matchup between Kobe Bryant and long-time Western Conference adversary Tim Duncan.

Bryant and Duncan have each led their clubs to five NBA titles and have at least one league MVP award to their credit — in addition to MVP of the Finals and All-Star game MVP.

Bryant, who is retiring at season’s end, had 25 points in 29 minutes for the Lakers.

Duncan finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Tony Parker scored 25 points to help San Antonio complete a four-game season sweep. The Spurs moved within three games of defending champion Golden State in the race for the league’s best record.

Orlando’s Victor Oladipo had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and hit the 3-pointer that put the Magic ahead for good in overtime against Dallas en route to a 110-104 win.

The Mavericks overcame an early 21-point deficit to lead by as many as 14 and broke a franchise record with 19 3-pointers, but lost for the fifth time in six games.

Deron Williams scored 25 points for Dallas and Chandler Parsons added 24, and the pair combined to make 11 of 16 3-pointers.

Nik Vucevic led the Magic with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington led throughout and eased up in beating Detroit 98-86, led by John Wall’s 22 points.

Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored 25 points as the Hornets edged Milwaukee 98-95 despite leaving out newly acquired guard Courtney Lee due to lack of training time with the team.

Memphis’ Mike Conley had 25 points as the Grizzlies defeated Minnesota 109-104.

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins had 37 points and 20 rebounds in a strong performance that led the Kings past Denver 116-110.

Houston’s James Harden had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 116-100 win against free-falling Phoenix, which has lost 25 of 27.

Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez scored 33 points as the Nets beat New York 109-98 to hand the Knicks their seventh straight loss.

New Orleans’ Anthony Davis scored 18 of his 34 points in the first quarter to set up a 121-114 win against Philadelphia.