Portland, Ore. • Damian Lillard scored 35 points after a slow start and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-99 on Thursday night for their season-high fifth straight win.
CJ McCollum had 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 16 for Portland, which improved to 36-26. It was the first time Portland was 10 games over .500 since the end of the 2014-15 season.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 34 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost their fourth straight in the Moda Center.
Lillard was 0 for 7 in the first quarter but after struggling in the first half, Portland mounted a comeback in the second and pulled ahead 84-82 on Shabazz Napier’s running jump shot with 8:07 left.
Al-Farouq Aminu and McCollum hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Portland a 92-86 lead with 3:48 left. Lillard’s 3 extended it and the Timberwolves couldn’t catch up.
The teams split the season series 2-2.
The Timberwolves were playing their third game without Jimmy Butler, who had surgery on Sunday to repair a meniscal injury in his right knee. It isn’t clear when he’ll be able to return. Butler is the team’s top scorer, averaging 22.2 points.
Portland got off to a cold start, shooting just 25 percent in the first quarter (6 for 24). McCollum went 1 for 5, and the Blazers trailed 24-19.
Lillard had been hot going into the game, averaging 31.4 points in February, the highest scoring average for a Blazer in a single month in team history.
Towns hit a 3-pointer that put Minnesota in front 47-36, but Lillard answered with his first basket from the field, a jumper, then added a driving layup and a free throw. The Blazers cut the lead to 49-44 at the break.
Towns had 21 points in the half, including 19 in the second quarter alone.
Portland opened the second half on a 7-0 run to go up 51-49 for a short-lived lead. Andrew Wiggins’ jumper extended Minnesota’s lead to 74-64 late in the quarter.
Lakers 131, Heat 113 • In Miami, Isaiah Thomas scored a season-high 29 points, Julius Randle added 25 and Los Angeles continued its surge by topping the Heat.
Brandon Ingram added 19, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 18 and Kyle Kuzma finished with 16 for the Lakers, who won in Miami for the first time since Feb. 10, 2008. The Lakers shot 59 percent and were 16 of 29 from 3-point range.
It was the most points allowed by the Heat this season.
Thomas, whose previous season best was 24, connected on 11 of 20 shots and 6 of 11 3-point tries. Randle had 21 points in the first half for the Lakers, who are 16-7 since an 11-27 start — and at 27-34, have now passed last season’s win total.
Sixers 108, Cavaliers 97 • In Cleveland, J.J. Redick scored 22 points, Joel Embiid had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Philadelphia delivered an in-person sales pitch to LeBron James by beating the Cavaliers to end an 11-game losing streak against the Eastern Conference champions.
Ben Simmons scored 18 and Dario Saric 16, including a critical 3-pointer in the closing minutes, for the rising Sixers, who are 8-2 since Feb. 6.
James finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Earlier this week, three billboards urging the three-time champion to sign as a free agent this summer with Philadelphia were unveiled on a busy highway outside Cleveland. James said he hadn’t seen the signs, which were paid for by a Pennsylvania company, but he was pleased that fans want him.
The Sixers gave him a glimpse of what he could be joining.
Kings 116, Nets 111, overtime • In Sacramento, Calif., Bogdan Bogdanovic made a go-ahead short runner from the baseline with 1:06 left in overtime, then added a pair of free throws and the Kings beat Brooklyn.
The Kings blew a lead late in the fourth quarter but outscored the Nets 16-11 in the extra period to end a five-game losing streak.
Spencer Dinwiddie’s bucket with 1:22 left gave Brooklyn a 111-110 lead before Bogdanovic drove into traffic near the baseline then pulled up for the basket that gave the Kings the lead for good.
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