By ANNE M. PETERSON, AP Sports Author
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard scored 41 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns 113-111 in extra time Friday night for his or her second straight victory to open the season.
Anfernee Simons made a layup with 7.2 seconds left in extra time and finished with 16 points. Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 33 points. His layup gave Phoenix a 109-106 lead early in the additional period.
Lillard’s free throws with 33.9 seconds left tied it at 111. Booker missed a brief jumper before Simons’ layup put Portland in front. Nurkic fouled Deandre Ayton on the opposite end, but Ayton missed the primary, then missed the second on purpose for a failed try at a tying basket.
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The Suns led by 12 points in the primary half, but Portland crept back to tie it at 79 early within the fourth quarter off Nassir Little’s pullup jumper and it was close the remaining of the way in which.
Chris Paul’s driving layup gave the Suns a 101-100 lead with 59.9 seconds to go in regulation. After Nurkic made free throws for Portland, Mikal Bridges made the second of two free throws to tie it at 102 with 37.1 seconds left. Lillard missed an off-balance jumper to send the sport to extra time.
The Suns were coming off a 107-105 victory over Dallas on Wednesday of their season opener. The Suns won 64 games last season but fell to the Mavericks within the Western Conference semifinals.
Portland won its opener 115-108 on Wednesday night at Sacramento.
Suns coach Monty Williams is at all times nostalgic when he involves Portland, where he got his start as an assistant under former Blazers coach Nate McMillan from 2005-10.
He recalled Friday how one season McMillan tore his Achilles and he was thrust into the pinnacle coach’s role for a time.
“I’ll always remember, I used to be walking the sidelines because Nate would want me to speak with the players. I turned to ask him for a call and he similar to barked at me, ”`You make the decision!'” Williams said. “It was like, ‘I put you up there for a reason so stop being you and be me for a second and make the decision.’”
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was asked before the sport if there was pressure to play rookie Shaedon Sharpe. Billups said Sharpe had progressed to the purpose where he was ready.
Sharpe began within the opener against the Kings and had 12 points in his NBA debut,
“We lost numerous basketball games to get Shaedon Sharpe. Let’s play the child,” Billups said.
Suns: Williams said he’s taking it slow with Landry Shamet, who has began the season sidelined with a left hip strain. “The very last thing I would like to do is put more pressure on a man to get back on the ground. I just wait for our team to let me know when a man is prepared.”
Trail Blazers: Lillard led all scorers with 28 points, including 4 3-pointers, in the primary half alone. Lillard played just 29 games last season before he had surgery to correct a nagging abdominal injury.
Suns: At Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.
Trail Blazers: At Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
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