Los Angeles—CJ McCollum scored 40 points Tuesday as the Portland Trail Blazers cooled off the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks with a 118-103 NBA victory.
McCollum connected on 17 of 23 attempts from the field, including five of 10 from three-point range, as the Trail Blazers improved to 8-3 and handed Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks just their second defeat of the season.
“It’s a great win for us,” said McCollum, who scored 19 points in the third quarter alone.
Among his myriad highlights, a wicked move around Donte DiVincenzo that brought the Bucks rookie to his knees.
“Whenever you see a rookie you’ve got to be aggressive, attack them, make them move their feet,” McCollum said.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic scored 23 points to lead five Dallas players in double figures as the Mavericks snapped a six-game skid with a 119-100 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Doncic, the 19-year-old Slovenian rookie, added six rebounds and three assists for the Mavs. Wesley Matthews added 22 points and Dennis Smith contributed 19—making a trio of crucial plays down the stretch as the Mavericks thwarted Washington’s bid to rally in the second half.
“It’s been a long time since we won a game,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Feels good.”
The Wizards trailed by as many as 24 in the first half and were down 70-49 at halftime.
But they piled on the pressure in the second half, and trailed by just six with 5:33 to play when Smith got past Dwight Howard for an offensive rebound and fed DeAndre Jordan for a dunk that stretched Dallas’ lead to 101-93.
In Charlotte, the Hornets survived 21 turnovers to beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-102.
Kemba Walker scored 29 points and handed out seven assists and Marvin Williams added a season-high 20 points for the Hornets, who improved to 6-5.
Walker connected on 12 of 22 shots from the field, including four of 10 from three-point range. With 46 three-pointers this season he trails only Golden State star Stephen Curry.
It was a breakout performance for McCollum, who had struggled to find his shooting touch in the first 10 games of the season.
He added six assists and five rebounds as the Trail Blazers snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bucks.
“I just tried to be aggressive and take advantage and help the team get a win,” McCollum said.
Evan Turner posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, also handing out four assists for the Blazers. Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and Jake Layman also scored in double figures.
Antetokounmpo led a trio of Bucks players to score in double digits with 23 points, along with nine rebounds and six assists.