PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Deni Avdija scored a season-high 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers bested former teammate Damian Lillard with a 125-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
Anfernee Simons added 25 points for Portland, which has won five of its last six. The Blazers led by 19 points in the final quarter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 39 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who had won nine of their last 11 but were playing their third game in four nights.
The game marked Lillard’s second trip to Portland since he was traded to the Bucks ahead of last season. Lillard, who spent 11 seasons with the Blazers, finished with 20 points.
The Bucks went up 47-35 on Gary Trent Jr.’s pullup jumper, but Portland went ahead 64-61 at the break. Shaedon Sharpe’s 3-pointer stretched the Blazers’ lead to 82-73 in the third.
Takeaways
Bucks: Milwaukee was coming off a 125-105 victory at the Jazz. Lillard and Antetokounmpo had 35 points in the win. Taurean Prince was called for a flagrant foul on Avdija in the first quarter.
Trail Blazers: Guard Scoot Henderson was named to the Rising Stars event during All-Star weekend. … Avdija had 14 points in the third quarter. He finished with nine rebounds. … Jerami Grant left the game in the second half with a right ankle injury.
Key moment
Simons hit a 3-pointer that gave the Blazers a 57-56 lead with 2:23 left in the first half as the Blazers clawed back from a 12-point deficit. Simons had 12 points in the second quarter alone.
Key stat
The Blazers are 3-1 against the Bucks since they traded Lillard.
Up next
The Bucks visit San Antonio on Friday night. The Trail Blazers host Orlando on Thursday night.
Bucks’ Lillard greeted warmly by former team
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard got a warm welcome when the Milwaukee Bucks visited the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Lillard, who spent 11 seasons in Portland and was beloved by fans and the community, was greeted with rousing applause when his name was announced before the game at the Moda Center.
He was traded to Milwaukee ahead of the 2023-24 season. Tuesday’s game was his second trip with the Bucks to Portland — the first was last January, a game that the upstart Blazers won 119-116.
Lillard still has a home and family in Portland and earlier on Tuesday dropped his son off at school, which he shared in shared via an Instagram story. His son wore a Bucks jersey.
“It’s always fun to face Damian especially here at home. It’s always going to be be a big deal, as long as he’s playing,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said before the game. “I’m sure he feels the same way. … What he means to the city, and will always mean to the city, will never change.”
Lillard averaged 32.2 points in his last season with Portland, becoming just the seventh NBA player to score more than 70 points in a game when he finished with 71 in a game against against the Houston Rockets. But Portland won only four playoff series in Lillard’s tenure, getting to the Western Conference Finals just once.
An eight-time All-Star, Lillard is averaging 25.5 points and 7.3 assists this season with the Bucks. The two teams met earlier this month in Milwaukee, with the Blazers winning 105-102.