NBA: Toumani Camara's career night helps Blazers trounce Nets

Toumani Camara delivered a career performance with 35 points and nine 3-pointers, propelling the Portland Trail Blazers to a dominant 134-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.

Camara scored 23 points on perfect shooting in the first half, setting the tone for Portland’s fourth win in five games. Deni Avdija added 18 points, Kris Murray contributed 16 off the bench, and Donovan Clingan recorded seven points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocked shots for the Trail Blazers (36-37), who sit just half a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Scoot Henderson had 13 points, Jrue Holiday added 11 points and seven assists, and reserve Matisse Thybulle chipped in 10 points as Portland posted its largest winning margin of the season.

For Brooklyn (17-55), Tyson Etienne led the way with 18 points, Ziaire Williams scored 16, and Josh Minott added 15. Chaney Johnson came off the bench to contribute 12 points. The Nets have now dropped eight consecutive games and 18 of their last 20.

Camara was nearly flawless from beyond the arc, making 8 of 11 three-point attempts as Portland finished 18 of 38 from long range. Overall, the Trail Blazers shot 55% from the field. Brooklyn converted 41.2% of its shots and 8 of 29 from three-point range, with Jalen Wilson scoring 11 points and Nic Claxton and reserve Ben Saraf adding 10 apiece.

Portland led by 18 at halftime, with Camara’s sixth 3-pointer of the game extending the lead to 76-55 with 9:44 remaining in the third quarter. He later improved to 7-for-7 from deep with a trey that made it 93-71 with 1:57 left in the quarter.

Entering the fourth, the Trail Blazers led 97-73. Holiday and Camara opened the quarter with three-pointers, pushing the margin to 30 points. Camara was 8-for-8 from long range at that point, narrowly missing the Trail Blazers’ franchise record for most made threes without a miss, held by Terry Porter (7-for-7 against Golden State on Nov. 14, 1992).

Camara sank another three with 9:27 left, making it 106-73, and exited the game shortly after as Portland extended its lead to a season-high 38 points on its way to finishing the dominant win.

Camara finished the first half 6-of-6, including five 3-pointers, and closed the period with a three-point play at 1:04 and another trey at 41.6 seconds.

-Field Level Media/Reuters