Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter set a franchise record with 30 rebounds to give his team a 118-103 victory over the Detroit Pistons in the Moda Center on Saturday night.
Kanter, who started in place of Jusuf Nurkic (knee), also scored 24 points on 9 of 16 shots and had 12 offensive rebounds.
“Enes is such an amazing man that you could see the reaction from the bench and how happy the team was for him,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said.
The franchise’s previous record for rebounds in a game was 27, set by Sidney Wicks in 1975 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Damian Lillard scored 27 points and 10 assists.
The victory beat a two-game losing streak for the Blazers.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The Blazers (31-21) remained in sixth place, 1 1/2 games behind fifth-place Los Angeles Lakers (33-20), who won 126-101 in Brooklyn on Saturday.
IT WAS OVER then
After trailing 14-11, the Blazers ran to win the first quarter 33-23, especially thanks to Lillard’s 12 points in the quarter and Kanter’s seven points and 10 rebounds (five offensively).
The Blazers started the second quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 41-25 lead, but the Pistons responded with a 17-4 run to make the score 45-38.
The Pistons continued to play well and got the score at 47-46 before Lillard passed on an evil dunk that started a 12-4 run to make the halftime 59-50.
Detroit Pistons center Mason Plumlee, left, and Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter, go right after a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo / Steve Dykes) APAP
The Blazers still left no doubt that they were the superior team, and Kanter continued in the third quarter to do what he wanted against the Pistons.
The Blazers extended their lead to 86-68 with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter when Kanter scored inside shortly after CJ McCollum hit on a driver.
The Blazers finished the third quarter 95-76. At that point, Kanter had 23 points and 23 rebounds.
The Pistons reached 111-97 in the fourth stage, but the Blazers were never in danger of leaving Detroit in the game again.
PREPARED AND POSTPONED
Lillard made 9 of 20 shots and 4 of 8 tries. McCollum struck out 11 of 21 shots for 26 points.
Nassir Little is 5 out of 5 off the bench for 11 points.
The Blazers shot 44.8% on tries (13 of 29).
Josh Jackson led Detroit with 21 points on 7 or 12 shots and he made 5 of 6 tries.
DRAWN UP AND FIZZLED
Normal Powell had his worst game as a member of the Blazers who made just 2 of 10 shots for nine points. He also committed five turnovers.
The Blazers committed 15 turnovers.
RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON
Hollis-Jefferson, who was signed on a ten-day contract on Thursday, played seven minutes, missed his only attempt at the field goal, but made one free throw and one assist.
THE FOLLOWING (Blazers schedule)
The Blazers host Miami on Sunday and then Boston on Tuesday.
– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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