PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard tied his own regular-season franchise record by making 11 3-pointers and finished with 38 points, leading the Portland Trail Blazers over the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-112 on Monday night.
Lillard shot 11-for-17 from long range and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. The Blazers never trailed and led by as many as 27.
It was Lillard’s third career regular-season game with 11 3-pointers, trailing only the Golden State Warriors‘ Stephen Curry (12) for games with at least 11 made 3’s. Klay Thompson (two) is the only other player with multiple such games. Lillard’s 11 3’s also trailed only Thompson’s (14) for the most through three quarters in the 3-point era.
Lillard had 12 3’s in a playoff game, a double-overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the first round of the 2021 playoffs.
Jerami Grant had 24 points for Portland, and Jusuf Nurkic added 14 points and 16 rebounds.
D’Angelo Russell scored 23 points for Minnesota. Rudy Gobert grabbed 20 rebounds to go with 16 points.
Lillard made eight 3s and scored 27 points as the Blazers took a 70-59 halftime lead. He opened the second half by making his ninth 3-pointer.
Lillard tied his team record with his 11th 3-pointer, putting Portland ahead 88-70 with 5:45 left in the third quarter.
The Timberwolves closed within 88-78, forcing a Blazers timeout. Portland pushed its lead to 106-84 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.