Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons climbs franchise 3-point leaderboard

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons continued his climb up the franchise’s leaderboard in three-point field goals made.

Simons hit a three in the third quarter of the Blazers’ 114-106 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night to give himself 827 for his career. That pushed him into third place all-time in Blazers’ history.

Simons, 25, surpassed Wesley Matthews, who made 826 during his time with the Blazers from 2010-2015.

CJ McCollum (1,297) ranks second in Blazers’ history behind Damian Lillard (2,387).

“Being behind the two guys that taught you a lot in the league, that’s a pretty cool moment, to be sure,” Simons told reporters at Crypto.com Arena.

Simons went 4 of 9 from beyond the arc during the game to finish the night with 830 career threes.

Simons, who scored 23 in the loss, also surpassed the 5,000-point mark after entering the game with 4,996. He now has 5,019.

Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said Simons’ work ethic allowed him to achieve both accomplishments.

“His summers and him being dedicated to his craft and dedicated to trying to get better,” Billups told reporters. “Knowing that his role has evolved every year, the bigger your role is, the more attention you will garner from the other team. Figuring out how teams play you. Coverages. Then you got to figure out your own team.