The Atlanta Hawks held a commanding lead over the Portland Trail Blazers for two and a half quarters. But in the third quarter, the young Blazers came alive and surged forward and took control, holding off the Hawks in the final minutes for their third straight victory. Let’s dig in.

Player of the Game: Shaedon Sharpe. Game after game, Sharpe is showing he can be the Blazers’ future star, and tonight he led the way once again. He hit the game-winning three-pointer in the final minute of the fourth quarter and finished with 31 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Stat of the night: turnover. On a night where both sub-.500 teams looked evenly matched and somewhat sloppy, turnovers made the difference. Atlanta committed 27 turnovers, including a pass to nowhere in the final ten seconds, to Portland’s 20, which more than accounted for the slim margin of victory. Portland had 16 steals on the season.

What we’ll remember: That really fun run in the third quarter. The Blazers turned a double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead during a dominant five-minute period led by Sharpe. It was a look at the best possible future for this group of players in red and black.

Box score

What’s next: two more days off and then a road trip. Tonight’s Hawks game was Portland’s only game in a week, but it is followed by a five-game road trip that begins Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.