PORTLAND, Ori. – Enes Kanter scored 24 points and a franchise record of 30 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Detroit Pistons 118-103 Saturday night.
Kanter surpassed Sidney Wicks ’Portland record of 27 rebounds set in 1975. Each time Kanter raised the record on Saturday, the Blazers’ bench stood up and won.
Kanter is the fourth player with 30 rebounds in a game in the last 20 seasons, joining Dwight Howard in 2018, Andrew Bynum in 2012 and Kevin Love in 2011. He also broke his own personal best of 26 sets while playing for New York Knicks in 2018.
Damian Lillard had 27 points and 10 assists and CJ McCollum added 26 points for the Blazers, who broke a two-game losing streak.
Kanter started instead of center Jusuf Nurkic, who was not available for the Blazers because it was the first game of a back-to-back. Nurkic had a swelling in his knee that kept him out of a game earlier this week against the LA Clippers. Blazers coach Terry Stotts said before the game that Nurkic would be available for Sunday night’s home game against the Miami Heat.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.