Jusuf Nurkic breaks wrist as Indiana Pacers earn rare win at Portland Trail Blazers

Earlier in the NBA, short-handed Houston Rockets claimed a surprising 109-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, left, drives to the basket toward Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis. AP

Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis combined for 48 points and the Indiana Pacers used a 33-10 blitz in the second quarter to take command en route to a 111-87 thumping of the host Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

Of greater concern for Portland, though, was centre Jusuf Nurkic breaking his right wrist. He exited in the third quarter after he fell, and he didn't come back into the game. It was unclear how long Nurkic would be sidelined.

The result ended Indiana's 11-game losing streak at Portland and was the Pacers' first win at the Moda Center since November 2007.

Brogdon logged a game-high 25 points and Sabonis complemented him with 23 as the Pacers, short-handed after trading Victor Oladipo to the Houston Rockets, won a second straight on the road.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum had 22 points apiece for Portland, which had won four in a row but was playing the second night of a back-to-back set.

After the teams dueled to a 28-all tie through the game's first 13 minutes, the Pacers took the lead for good with a 12-0 burst that featured scoring by reserves only. Doug McDermott had seven of the 12 points.

After McCollum scored twice to get the Trail Blazers back within 40-32 at the 6:22 mark of the period, the Pacers heated up again, this time using a 19-2 flurry to open a 25-point lead.

Aaron Holiday ignited the run by scoring six of the first nine points.

Down 59-36 at the break, the Trail Blazers got no closer than 11 in the second half.

Both Brogdon and Sabonis shot 10-for-18 for the Pacers, who outgunned the Trail Blazers 47.8 percent to 36.8 percent.

Sabonis completed a double-double with a game-high 15 rebounds while teammate Myles Turner added 11 points and 10 rebounds. McDermott finished with 16 points and Justin Holiday had 11.

The Pacers dealt Oladipo to the Rockets as part of the four-team James Harden deal, finalized Thursday morning, that sent Caris LeVert to Indiana.

McCollum (4-for-10), Lillard (2-for-5) and Carmelo Anthony (2-for-5) combined for eight 3-pointers for Portland, but their teammates were 5-for-23 from beyond the arc.

Anthony finished with 10 points. Nurkic had five points and eight assists in 21 minutes before leaving.

Short-handed Rockets surprise Spurs

Christian Wood led the way for the Houston Rockets in the win over the San Antonio Spurs. AFP

Christian Wood racked up 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the short-handed Houston Rockets to a surprising 109-105 win over the host San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.

The game was Houston's first since it shipped star guard James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a four-team trade that was finalized Thursday morning.

None of the players the Rockets received in the trade -- Victor Oladipo (from the Indiana Pacers), Dante Exum (from the Cleveland Cavaliers), and Rodions Kurucs (from the Brooklyn Nets) -- was in uniform on Thursday, forcing Houston to field a makeshift lineup that more than held its own.

San Antonio led 99-90 after a hook shot by LaMarcus Aldridge with 4:39 to play and seemingly had finally put away the determined Rockets. Houston answered with 3-pointers by Wood and Sterling Brown, then tied the game at 101 on another Wood trey with 2:47 left.

After a Spurs turnover, Wood canned a pair of free throws to grant the Rockets a 103-101 lead. Brown added a layup after a miss by Aldridge to put the Rockets up by four with 1:46 to play.

Keldon Johnson's layup with 1:31 left was countered by a hoop from the Rockets' Jae'Sean Tate that rebuilt the four-point lead. A DeMar DeRozan layup cut the advantage in half, and after a Houston turnover, DeRozan's jumper with 0.3 seconds left went in and out.

Two free throws from Houston's P.J. Tucker in the final moments capped the scoring.