PORTLAND — The game was hanging in the balance at halftime. Then Portland hit the accelerator and never looked back.
The Trail Blazers (26-28) buried the Philadelphia 76ers (30-23) 135-118 on Tuesday night at Moda Center, breaking it open with a blistering 49-point third quarter. Philadelphia won the first half by a point, but Portland’s third-period avalanche turned a competitive matchup into a one-sided finish.
Turning point: a third-quarter avalanche
Through two quarters, the teams traded punches: Philadelphia led 31-29 after the first and edged the Blazers 65-64 at the break behind a 34-point second quarter. Portland’s response coming out of halftime was the game.
The Blazers exploded for 49 points in the third while holding the 76ers to 22, a +27 swing that effectively ended it. Portland entered the fourth up 113-87, and while Philadelphia scored 31 in the final period, the damage was already done.
How Portland won: ball movement that bent the defense
Portland’s offense wasn’t just hot — it was connected. The Blazers finished with 36 assists, a sharp contrast to Philadelphia’s 23. That gap told the story of the night: Portland consistently generated advantages, kept the ball popping, and turned those reads into a flood of scoring, especially during the third-quarter blitz.
Even as the 76ers tried to stabilize in the fourth, Portland had already built the kind of cushion that forces a team to chase shots instead of dictating matchups.
Game flow, quarter by quarter
First half: Philly’s slight edge
Philadelphia’s 31 points in the opening quarter set the tempo, and the 76ers followed with 34 more in the second. Portland stayed within striking distance by matching the 76ers’ second-quarter output nearly point-for-point (35), going into halftime down just one.
Third quarter: Portland’s knockout
The Blazers’ 49-point third was the defining stretch — a massive offensive spike paired with a defensive clamp that held Philadelphia to 22. Portland turned a one-point deficit into a 26-point lead in 12 minutes.
Fourth quarter: closing time
Philadelphia’s 31-point fourth showed fight, but Portland’s earlier separation meant the final period played more like a formality than a comeback window. Portland won the quarter 22-31 but never surrendered control of the game.
What it means going forward
For Portland, this was the blueprint: win the possession battle with passing and pace, then turn a tight game into a runway when the opponent’s coverage starts to crack. At 26-28, the Blazers have been uneven lately (WWWLL), but this kind of offensive connectivity — 36 assists — is the clearest marker of a team that can stack wins when the schedule tightens.
For Philadelphia, the loss stings because the first half looked like a road win in progress. The 76ers (30-23) will focus on the post-halftime collapse — a 22-point third quarter — and how quickly Portland’s ball movement dictated the terms once the game shifted into the half-court.