If there was any doubt about the final outcome of the Trail Blazers' win over the Charlotte Hornets Tuesday night, Portland made sure to put an end to it with three straight steals early in the fourth quarter.
CJ McCollum picked off an errant pass and raced the other way for an uncontested dunk. Then Al-Farouq Aminu poked the ball away and fed Allen Crabbe for a transition layup. McCollum capped the sequence with a final steal, hitting it ahead to Moe Harkless, who finished with a two-handed dunk.
There was still more than nine minutes left in the game. But as Harkless hung on the rim and the crowd inside Moda Center cheered Portland's 22-point advantage the outcome was no longer in doubt.
The Blazers (22-28) rolled to a 115-98 win over the Hornets (23-26). After three straight games that came down to crunch time it was a welcomed change of pace.
Damian Lillard paced the Blazers with 27 points, four rebounds and four assists, Crabbe had 21 points, McCollum added 18 points.
Kemba Walker had 22 points and former Blazers Nicolas Batum added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Hornets, who lost their fifth consecutive game.
Portland couldn't buy a basket to open the game, missing its first eight shots before Lillard Casino Siteleri ended the drought with a deep three-pointer. Lucky for the Blazers, Charlotte was barely better, starting the game 2-for-7 and quickly falling behind by double-digits.
The Blazers led by as much as 14 in the first half, but limped into halftime as Charlotte chipped away at the lead and only trailed 56-50 at the break.
"In the first half, I thought we should have had a larger lead than we did," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "I didn't think our decision making in transition and early offense was very good. I thought we had a lot of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of."
After the lackluster close to the second quarter, the Blazers took control early in the third quarter, building an 18-point lead heading into the fourth.
Three straight steals early in the fourth quarter took the drama out of the final 12 minutes and gave the Blazers their fourth win in their last five games.
The Blazers held the Hornets to 39 percent shooting and avenged a 22-point loss in Charlotte on Jan. 18. Following that loss, Stotts switched up the Blazers starting lineup and Portland is playing their best basketball of season since that game.
Davis pledges to return
Backup big man Ed Davis said before the game that he plans to play Friday. Davis has missed five games with left wrist sprain he suffered Jan. 20 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Next up
The Blazers end their five-game homestand on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. at the Moda Center. Portland begins a two-game trip Sunday at Oklahoma City.
--Mike Richman
mrichman@oregonian.com
@mikegrich
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