Trail Blazers, of all teams, win by 53 points for largest victory in franchise history

Anfernee Simons hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points in the largest blowout victory in Portland Trail Blazers history, a 141-88 romp over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.

The 53-point margin topped the franchise record of 50 set in a 129-79 home victory over Cleveland on Nov. 21, 1982.

Toumani Camara added 20 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, a steal and two blocks for the Trail Blazers. Shaedon Sharpe had 20 points off the bench, and Jabari Walker had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 17 points. Nick Smith Jr. had 14 points. Jusuf Nurkic added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists off the bench.

The Trail Blazers, who haven’t made the playoffs since the 2020-21 season, have finished with a losing record each season since Chauncey Billups took over as coach in 2021. They’re currently 24-33 and in 13th place in the Western Conference standings. Portland came into the night averaging only 109.1 points per game, which ranked 25th in the league.

The Hornets are in even worse shape. They’re just 14-41 and sit in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference.

Takeaways

Hornets: LaMelo Ball scored five points and was 1-of-10 from the field.

Trail Blazers: Robert Williams III was ruled out earlier in the day with swelling in his left knee. Billups did not know if he would miss significant time.

Key stat

The Trail Blazers led by 17 points after the first quarter.

Key moment

In the first 90 seconds of the game, the Hornets led 4-3 before Portland went on a 13-0 run. Charlotte was never able to get back in the game.

Up next

Both teams play Monday night. The Hornets are at Sacramento, and the Trail Blazers open a seven-game trip in Utah.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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