Deandre Ayton had a season-high 33 points (26 in the paint) and 19 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied from 16 points down in the second quarter to beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-102.
The Trail Blazers trailed 33-17 with 9:04 left in the second quarter. They outscored the Hawks 89-69 the rest of the way.
The Hawks had the ball down 2 with 47 seconds left, but Matisse Thybulle blocked Bogdan Bogdanović’s 3-pointer. It would have put the Hawks ahead.
Anfernee Simons’ 2 free throws with 3.8 seconds left made it 106-102 and put it away.
During clutch time, the Trail Blazers outscored the Hawks 11-7. Simons scored 7 of the Trail Blazers’ 11 on 1 for 3 shooting and 4 for 4 at the line.
Simons had 36 points and 8 assists. The Trail Blazers had 2 30-point scorers.
For the Hawks, Dejounte Murray scored 40 points with 6 3-pointers.
The Trail Blazers went 20 for 24 at the line to the Hawks’ 12 for 18. The Trail Blazers outscored the Hawks 40-29 in 16 minutes with Simons, Ayton, Thybulle, Murray and Camara on the floor together.