Recap

Recap: Trail Blazers 70, Hawks 69



Posted Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:29 PM - Updated Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:29 PM

With nine seconds remaining in overtime, Will Barton sank a nine-foot jumper to propel the Portland Trail Blazers (1-3) to the second round of the NBA Summer League 2013 Championship on Wednesday evening from UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Portland, the 19th seed in the inaugural tournament, erased a 16-point deficit in the second half to force overtime en route to its 70-69 win over the 14th-seeded Atlanta Hawks (1-3).

After falling behind by 16 points with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter, Portland ran off a 9-0 run in a span of 2:12 to cut Atlanta's lead to seven. Unfortunately, the lead ballooned back to 11 on two occasions early in the fourth before the Trail Blazers rattled off an 18-7 outburst to knot the contest at 67-all when the initial 40 minutes of play had expired.

Portland's final four fourth-quarter points were scored by Thomas Robinson, who compiled the games only double-double behind a combination of 17 rebounds and 13 points. Robinson, who tallied six of his points in the stretch run, threw down a thunderous dunk to pull the Trail Blazers within two -- 67-65 at 1:26 -- a minute before he connected on the game-tying layup.

In the overtime session, C.J. McCollum handed the Trail Blazers their first lead in over 30 minutes with a free throw with 23 seconds on the clock. The lead was short-lived; however, as Atlanta's Dennis Schroder knocked down a two from the charity stripe six seconds later to put his team ahead by one before Barton's heroics.

McCollum led Portland in scoring with 19 points off 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Barton added 16 points, while Meyers Leonard chipped in 11.

Atlanta struck out for an early 14-10 lead in the first quarter only to see its four-point lead turned into a seven-point deficit after Portland rattled off seven straight points in a span of 3:07.

The Hawks regained the advantage before the opening 10 minutes of action concluded by tallying six of the final eight points in the frame. They kept the pedal down in the second quarter by outscoring the Trail Blazers by nine -- 21-12 -- to carry a double-digit lead -- 41-31 -- lead into the half.

Atlanta's edge ballooned to a game-high 16 off a jumper from Mike Scott with 3:46 left in the third stanza.

The Hawks had three score in double figures with Scott's 19 leading the way. Schroder and John Jenkins had 16 and 13, respectively.

Both squads will play their next games in UNLV's COX Pavilion. Portland returns first with its 5:00 pm contest against the third-seeded Phoenix Suns on Thursday, while Atlanta must wait until Friday to face the 20th-seeded Sacramento Kings at 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon.