After a rough loss last night in Denver, the Portland Trail Blazers looked great against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
After losing to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon, the Portland Trail Blazers returned home on Monday night and delivered exactly the kind of response they needed, taking care of business against a Brooklyn Nets team they were expected to beat.
This was a complete bounce-back performance from Portland, fueled by strong contributions across the roster. The standout was Toumani Camara, who erupted for 35 points while knocking down 9 of his 11 attempts from beyond the arc, one of the best games of his young career. He set the tone offensively and never let Brooklyn back into the game.
Deni Avdija was quieter by comparison but still productive, finishing with 18 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Donovan Clingan controlled the glass with 15 rebounds to go along with seven points, continuing to make his presence felt inside even without a big scoring night.
Portland had six players finish in double figures, but Camara was clearly the engine behind everything they did offensively. Kris Murray also delivered a strong performance with 16 points and a game-high plus-38, impacting the game on both ends.
From a team perspective, this game was never in doubt. The Blazers dominated the three-point battle, hitting 18 threes compared to just 8 from Brooklyn. They shot 14 percent better from the field, made more free throws, and controlled the glass with a double-digit rebounding advantage.
Portland led for nearly 42 minutes in this one and ultimately cruised to a 35-point victory, improving to 36-37 on the season and moving back within one game of the .500 mark.
Even with wins from the Warriors and Clippers keeping the Western Conference play-in race tight, the Blazers remain firmly in the mix and still have a strong path to securing the No. 8 seed.
Now, they’ll get a couple of much-needed days off before returning to Moda Center on Wednesday to host the Milwaukee Bucks.