Damian Lillard's emotional return to Portland opened with an ovation and ended in defeat as the Trail Blazers held off the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116.
Lillard was playing his first game in Portland since the September trade that sent him to Milwaukee after he spent his first 11 NBA seasons as a Blazer.
Greeted by a massive standing ovation and feted with a video tribute, Lillard felt the love, but the Bucks endured a second straight defeat under new head coach Doc Rivers.
Lillard threw down a dunk and fed Giannis Antetokounmpo for an alley-oop dunk that put Milwaukee up 116-115 with 37.9 seconds remaining.
Anfernee Simons, once mentored by Lillard in Portland, led the Trail Blazers with 24 points and made a floater that gave them the lead for good with 17.6 seconds to play.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 27 points and Lillard added 25, but after Simons' go-ahead basket the Bucks couldn't find a way to score and Jerami Grant sealed it at the free-throw line.
Elsewhere, Kevin Durant received a warm welcome in his triumphant return to Brooklyn, scoring 33 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 136-120 victory over the Nets.
