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NBA: Blazers continue hot stretch with win at Utah
By The Associated Press
Saturday, February 07, 2004 | No comments posted.
SALT LAKE CITY - Amid trade rumors and finger-pointing, a funny thing happened to the Portland Trail Blazers not long ago. They started winning games and they haven't stopped - even on the road.
Zach Randolph had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Rasheed Wallace added 16 points to lead Portland past the slumping Utah Jazz 87-73 Friday for the Blazers' sixth win in their last seven road games.
Two weeks ago, the Blazers were seven games under .500 and players were griping about Randolph's shot totals and wondering whether Wallace would be traded.
"We stopped worrying about all that other stuff and just started winning. Our focus is on the court and the difference is energy," said Derek Anderson, who had 11 points as all five Portland starters scored in double figures.
Earlier in the season, the Blazers tended to wilt if they got behind. Portland trailed until midway through the third quarter but coach Maurice Cheeks was able to rally his team.
"At halftime, Coach said we needed to pick up the energy and raise our game to another level, so that's what we went out there and did," Randolph said.
Andrei Kirilenko, who led Utah with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, made a 3-pointer to give Utah its biggest lead of the second half, 48-43, but Wallace scored seven points in a 15-2 run that ended on his runner in the lane for a 60-50 lead with 2:22 left in the third quarter.
"The second half, we really wanted to step up. We were attacking," said Darius Miles, who had 10 points.
Portland has won six of its last seven games overall and is tied with the Jazz for 10th place in the Western Conference.
Utah has lost four straight games to fall two games below .500 for the first time this season.
"I think we are a little bit down right now, emotionally and physically," Kirilenko said.
The Jazz have not reached 100 points in the last 15 games, and their offensive futility reached new lows against Portland's trapping zone defense.
"They felt sorry for themselves in the second half," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who was denied his 900th career coaching victory for the fourth straight game. "They thought something was supposed to come down out of the sky and give them a big lift. Well, that's not the way it is."
The Jazz, who shot just 34 percent, and have scored more than 22 points in a quarter only once in the past three games - in Wednesday's loss to Chicago when the Jazz scored 25 points in the fourth quarter after the game was decided.
"When they didn't score, we got the ball out on the break and got some easy baskets," Cheeks said.
Utah closed within nine midway through the fourth quarter, but Randolph's free throws capped an 11-0 run to clinch the game.
DeShawn Stevenson scored 13 and Carlos Arroyo added 10 for Utah.
Hawks 100, Celtics 96
BOSTON - The Atlanta Hawks won consecutive games for the first time this season, getting 23 points from Shareef Adbur-Rahim and 22 from Stephen Jackson in a 100-96 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
It was the Celtics' sixth straight loss and their fifth in a row under interim head coach John Carroll, who took over on Jan. 27 when Jim O'Brien resigned.
The Hawks held a 15-point lead at halftime but watched it disappear in the fourth quarter. After Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to give the Hawks a 97-92 lead, Paul Pierce hit four throws to cut the Hawks' lead to 97-96 with 17 seconds remaining.
Jackson missed the front end of a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining, but Ricky Davis had two shots blocked - the first by Theo Ratliff, the second by Abdur-Rahim - as the Hawks escaped.
Pacers 83, Raptors 77
TORONTO - Ron Artest scored 27 points, Jermaine O'Neal added 20 and Al Harrington 19 as the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers beat Toronto.
Jamaal Tinsley scored five of Indiana's last seven points after Toronto closed within two. O'Neal, who vowed to have a better game after going 6-for-20 from the field in a loss to New York on Tuesday, added 14 rebounds as the Pacers won for the fourth time in five games.
Donyell Marshall had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors.
Wizards 112, Clippers 110
WASHINGTON - Gilbert Arenas scored 25 points, Jerry Stackhouse added 23 and the Washington Wizards scored 25 of the game's first 28 points to end the Los Angeles Clippers' three-game road winning streak.
Kwame Brown added 22 points and Larry Hughes had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Los Angeles, bidding for its first four-game road winning streak since March, 1982, got 24 points from Quentin Richardson and 22 from Corey Maggette. The Clippers are 3-2 on a nine-game road trip - the longest in the NBA this season.
Timberwolves 103, Cavaliers 92
MINNEAPOLIS - Kevin Garnett had 35 points and 12 rebounds, including a huge fourth quarter.
Latrell Sprewell added 24 points, seven assists and a hand in LeBron James' face most of the night for Minnesota, which won its 14th straight at home and is an NBA-best 26-6 since Dec. 1.
Jeff McInnis scored 21 points and James added 14 for the Cavaliers, who dropped to 5-3 since acquiring McInnis in a trade with Portland.
Fred Hoiberg had eight of his 10 points in final eight minutes for the Timberwolves. He and Sprewell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Minnesota up 97-88 with less than four minutes remaining.
Nets 120, Magic 99
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jason Kidd had 18 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and a 3-pointer that cracked the 100-point mark at the end of third quarter.
The victory was the Nets' seventh straight, and their sixth in a row since Frank replaced Byron Scott less than two weeks ago for the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions.
The six wins to start a coaching career are three shy of the NBA record shared by Kurt Rambis in 1998-99 with the Lakers and Buddy Jeannette with the Baltimore Bullets in 1947.
The Nets' 120 points, 59.8 shooting percentage and 64 points in the paint were all seasons highs.
Grizzlies 105, Bucks 85
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Pau Gasol, booed in his last home game, scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Grizzlies tied a franchise record for victories.
The win was the Grizzlies' third straight and matched their 28 victories from last season - the most in franchise history. The Bucks lost their third straight overall and sixth consecutive road game.
For Gasol, it was a big turnaround from Memphis' last home game when fans booed him for soft inside play. He shot 9-for-14 and grabbed 12 rebounds as Memphis dominated the inside with the all three front line starters recording double-doubles.
James Posey had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Lorenzen Wright added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Hornets 92, Pistons 81
NEW ORLEANS - Jamal Mashburn scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the New Orleans Hornets snap a four-game losing streak.
After going 4-of-17 from the floor through three quarters, Mashburn hit a 3-pointer to snap a 10-0 Detroit run. He made two more shots and five free throws as New Orleans handed the Pistons their second straight loss.
Baron Davis returned after a three-game absence (sore left ankle) and had 13 points and seven assists. P.J. Brown added 13 points and 14 rebounds for New Orleans, which held Detroit to 38.5 percent shooting.
Rockets 82, Bulls 80
HOUSTON - Jim Jackson sank a 22-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Rockets a victory.
Yao Ming led Houston with 22 points, followed by Jackson with 14, Cuttino Mobley with 13 and Steve Francis with 11.
Chicago outscored Houston 22-5 to open the fourth quarter and took its first lead since the first period, 70-69, with 4:42 left. The lead changed hands five times and was tied once before a three-point play by Kelvin Cato with 1:25 left gave Houston an 80-77 advantage. A basket by Antonio Davis tied the game, 80-80, with 12 seconds left, before Jackson's game-winning shot.
SuperSonics 107, Suns 105
PHOENIX - Ray Allen had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists before injuring his shoulder late in the game.
Rashard Lewis, who scored 23 points, took a pass from Luke Ridnour for a layup with two seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Allen, who missed the first 25 games of the season while recovering from right ankle surgery, was knocked to the floor when he ran into Jake Voskuhl's screen. He was helped from the floor with 2:07 to play and went to the locker room, where X-rays were negative.
Warriors 96, Nuggets 87
OAKLAND, Calif. - Speedy Claxton scored 17 of his career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and the short-handed Golden State Warriors snapped Denver's three-game winning streak.
Claxton also had six assists and five rebounds in 41 minutes, going 13-of-13 at the free throw line in the final period. Claxton's fourth-quarter points were the most in one period by a Warriors player this season.
Brian Cardinal had 14 points and 11 rebounds in his first career start as the Warriors won their fifth straight home game. Erick Dampier recorded his 27th double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Rookie Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points to lead Denver.
Spurs 102, Kings 94
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Tim Duncan had 28 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks as the Spurs continued to be one of few teams to give the Kings trouble at home, defeating them at Arco Arena for the third straight time.
Tony Parker kept San Antonio in front during the first half, scoring 17 of his 20 points. Duncan took over after halftime, scoring 20 points as the Spurs gradually built a double-digit lead and held on to hand the Kings their fourth home loss of the season.
The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak for the Kings, who staged a comeback last week to defeat San Antonio at the SBC Center.
The NBA's highest scoring team was bothered all game by the league's top defensive team. Sacramento shot 30-of-81 (37 percent).
Zach Randolph had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Rasheed Wallace added 16 points to lead Portland past the slumping Utah Jazz 87-73 Friday for the Blazers' sixth win in their last seven road games.
Two weeks ago, the Blazers were seven games under .500 and players were griping about Randolph's shot totals and wondering whether Wallace would be traded.
"We stopped worrying about all that other stuff and just started winning. Our focus is on the court and the difference is energy," said Derek Anderson, who had 11 points as all five Portland starters scored in double figures.
Earlier in the season, the Blazers tended to wilt if they got behind. Portland trailed until midway through the third quarter but coach Maurice Cheeks was able to rally his team.
"At halftime, Coach said we needed to pick up the energy and raise our game to another level, so that's what we went out there and did," Randolph said.
Andrei Kirilenko, who led Utah with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, made a 3-pointer to give Utah its biggest lead of the second half, 48-43, but Wallace scored seven points in a 15-2 run that ended on his runner in the lane for a 60-50 lead with 2:22 left in the third quarter.
"The second half, we really wanted to step up. We were attacking," said Darius Miles, who had 10 points.
Portland has won six of its last seven games overall and is tied with the Jazz for 10th place in the Western Conference.
Utah has lost four straight games to fall two games below .500 for the first time this season.
"I think we are a little bit down right now, emotionally and physically," Kirilenko said.
The Jazz have not reached 100 points in the last 15 games, and their offensive futility reached new lows against Portland's trapping zone defense.
"They felt sorry for themselves in the second half," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who was denied his 900th career coaching victory for the fourth straight game. "They thought something was supposed to come down out of the sky and give them a big lift. Well, that's not the way it is."
The Jazz, who shot just 34 percent, and have scored more than 22 points in a quarter only once in the past three games - in Wednesday's loss to Chicago when the Jazz scored 25 points in the fourth quarter after the game was decided.
"When they didn't score, we got the ball out on the break and got some easy baskets," Cheeks said.
Utah closed within nine midway through the fourth quarter, but Randolph's free throws capped an 11-0 run to clinch the game.
DeShawn Stevenson scored 13 and Carlos Arroyo added 10 for Utah.
Hawks 100, Celtics 96
BOSTON - The Atlanta Hawks won consecutive games for the first time this season, getting 23 points from Shareef Adbur-Rahim and 22 from Stephen Jackson in a 100-96 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
It was the Celtics' sixth straight loss and their fifth in a row under interim head coach John Carroll, who took over on Jan. 27 when Jim O'Brien resigned.
The Hawks held a 15-point lead at halftime but watched it disappear in the fourth quarter. After Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to give the Hawks a 97-92 lead, Paul Pierce hit four throws to cut the Hawks' lead to 97-96 with 17 seconds remaining.
Jackson missed the front end of a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining, but Ricky Davis had two shots blocked - the first by Theo Ratliff, the second by Abdur-Rahim - as the Hawks escaped.
Pacers 83, Raptors 77
TORONTO - Ron Artest scored 27 points, Jermaine O'Neal added 20 and Al Harrington 19 as the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers beat Toronto.
Jamaal Tinsley scored five of Indiana's last seven points after Toronto closed within two. O'Neal, who vowed to have a better game after going 6-for-20 from the field in a loss to New York on Tuesday, added 14 rebounds as the Pacers won for the fourth time in five games.
Donyell Marshall had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors.
Wizards 112, Clippers 110
WASHINGTON - Gilbert Arenas scored 25 points, Jerry Stackhouse added 23 and the Washington Wizards scored 25 of the game's first 28 points to end the Los Angeles Clippers' three-game road winning streak.
Kwame Brown added 22 points and Larry Hughes had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Los Angeles, bidding for its first four-game road winning streak since March, 1982, got 24 points from Quentin Richardson and 22 from Corey Maggette. The Clippers are 3-2 on a nine-game road trip - the longest in the NBA this season.
Timberwolves 103, Cavaliers 92
MINNEAPOLIS - Kevin Garnett had 35 points and 12 rebounds, including a huge fourth quarter.
Latrell Sprewell added 24 points, seven assists and a hand in LeBron James' face most of the night for Minnesota, which won its 14th straight at home and is an NBA-best 26-6 since Dec. 1.
Jeff McInnis scored 21 points and James added 14 for the Cavaliers, who dropped to 5-3 since acquiring McInnis in a trade with Portland.
Fred Hoiberg had eight of his 10 points in final eight minutes for the Timberwolves. He and Sprewell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Minnesota up 97-88 with less than four minutes remaining.
Nets 120, Magic 99
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jason Kidd had 18 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and a 3-pointer that cracked the 100-point mark at the end of third quarter.
The victory was the Nets' seventh straight, and their sixth in a row since Frank replaced Byron Scott less than two weeks ago for the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions.
The six wins to start a coaching career are three shy of the NBA record shared by Kurt Rambis in 1998-99 with the Lakers and Buddy Jeannette with the Baltimore Bullets in 1947.
The Nets' 120 points, 59.8 shooting percentage and 64 points in the paint were all seasons highs.
Grizzlies 105, Bucks 85
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Pau Gasol, booed in his last home game, scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Grizzlies tied a franchise record for victories.
The win was the Grizzlies' third straight and matched their 28 victories from last season - the most in franchise history. The Bucks lost their third straight overall and sixth consecutive road game.
For Gasol, it was a big turnaround from Memphis' last home game when fans booed him for soft inside play. He shot 9-for-14 and grabbed 12 rebounds as Memphis dominated the inside with the all three front line starters recording double-doubles.
James Posey had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Lorenzen Wright added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Hornets 92, Pistons 81
NEW ORLEANS - Jamal Mashburn scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the New Orleans Hornets snap a four-game losing streak.
After going 4-of-17 from the floor through three quarters, Mashburn hit a 3-pointer to snap a 10-0 Detroit run. He made two more shots and five free throws as New Orleans handed the Pistons their second straight loss.
Baron Davis returned after a three-game absence (sore left ankle) and had 13 points and seven assists. P.J. Brown added 13 points and 14 rebounds for New Orleans, which held Detroit to 38.5 percent shooting.
Rockets 82, Bulls 80
HOUSTON - Jim Jackson sank a 22-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Rockets a victory.
Yao Ming led Houston with 22 points, followed by Jackson with 14, Cuttino Mobley with 13 and Steve Francis with 11.
Chicago outscored Houston 22-5 to open the fourth quarter and took its first lead since the first period, 70-69, with 4:42 left. The lead changed hands five times and was tied once before a three-point play by Kelvin Cato with 1:25 left gave Houston an 80-77 advantage. A basket by Antonio Davis tied the game, 80-80, with 12 seconds left, before Jackson's game-winning shot.
SuperSonics 107, Suns 105
PHOENIX - Ray Allen had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists before injuring his shoulder late in the game.
Rashard Lewis, who scored 23 points, took a pass from Luke Ridnour for a layup with two seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Allen, who missed the first 25 games of the season while recovering from right ankle surgery, was knocked to the floor when he ran into Jake Voskuhl's screen. He was helped from the floor with 2:07 to play and went to the locker room, where X-rays were negative.
Warriors 96, Nuggets 87
OAKLAND, Calif. - Speedy Claxton scored 17 of his career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and the short-handed Golden State Warriors snapped Denver's three-game winning streak.
Claxton also had six assists and five rebounds in 41 minutes, going 13-of-13 at the free throw line in the final period. Claxton's fourth-quarter points were the most in one period by a Warriors player this season.
Brian Cardinal had 14 points and 11 rebounds in his first career start as the Warriors won their fifth straight home game. Erick Dampier recorded his 27th double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Rookie Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points to lead Denver.
Spurs 102, Kings 94
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Tim Duncan had 28 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks as the Spurs continued to be one of few teams to give the Kings trouble at home, defeating them at Arco Arena for the third straight time.
Tony Parker kept San Antonio in front during the first half, scoring 17 of his 20 points. Duncan took over after halftime, scoring 20 points as the Spurs gradually built a double-digit lead and held on to hand the Kings their fourth home loss of the season.
The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak for the Kings, who staged a comeback last week to defeat San Antonio at the SBC Center.
The NBA's highest scoring team was bothered all game by the league's top defensive team. Sacramento shot 30-of-81 (37 percent).
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