MEMPHIS, Tenn. — — Dalano Banton scored a season-high 19 points, Jabari Walker also had 19 points and nine rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers ended a nine-game skid by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 122-92 Friday night.
Duop Reath added 18 points for the Trail Blazers, who led the entire game while winning for just the second time on the road against a Western Conference opponent. Kris Murray added 14 for Portland, which is now 2-19 against the West on the road.
Jake LaRavia led Memphis with a career-high 21 points. Lamar Stevens scored 19 points and GG Jackson finished with 11 as the Grizzlies lost their third in a row and their 12th in their last 14.
This was the first back-to-back match between the teams. They play again Saturday night.
Portland opened the second half with an 11-4 run, taking the game’s first double-digit lead and eventually extending it to 16 points nearly halfway through the third quarter. Reath and Murray scored nine points each as Portland took the lead.
The Trail Blazers shot 79 percent in the third quarter, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, pushing the advantage to 19 early in the fourth — a lead Portland never relinquished.
Both teams are mired at the bottom of the Western Conference and dealing with injuries that have impacted their rosters. And their files.
Moses Brown, who hadn’t played since undergoing surgery on his left wrist on Jan. 9, returned and the Trail Blazers fed the 7-foot-2 center in the second quarter. He finished with seven points, hitting all three of his shots.
Neither team was able to build a double-digit lead in the first half as both teams shot under 45%. Memphis was hampered by a dozen turnovers in the first half, contributing to a 51-45 lead for Portland at intermission.
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