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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Portland's extended All-Star vacation finally came to an end, just as the Trail Blazers were again flirting with an upset loss to a weaker opponent.
|  | | Brian Grant lowers the defensive boom on Washington's Rod Strickland. |
Arvydas Sabonis scored 17 points and Damon Stoudamire had 15 for
the Blazers, who awoke from a string of lackluster efforts with a
strong fourth quarter to defeat the Washington Wizards 93-85 Friday
night.
"These are tough games, but we've got to start to do a little
bit better job of playing against teams that aren't that high up in
the standings," Stoudamire said. "It would be nice to get a
blowout now and then."
Portland, which has won 13 straight at home and is 13-1 since
consecutive losses at Dallas and Houston last month, stayed a
half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA's best record
at 41-11.
The Blazers been anything but championship material the last
week and a half. They struggled past the Los Angeles Clippers just
before the All-Star break, and looked awful in beating Golden State
twice earlier this week.
Portland, the league's top shooting team, shot just 33 percent
in the first three quarters but made 9-of-18 shots in the final
period, outrebounded the Wizards 13-7 and outscored them 30-21.
"We should've won that ballgame. It hurts," said Juwan Howard,
who had 15 points. "You know what it was? Offensive rebounds. We
usually hurt teams on the boards, but not tonight."
Rod Strickland had 18 points to lead the Wizards, who lost their sixth game in a row and 14th straight on the road.
Washington dropped to 1-7 under new coach Darrell Walker and
3-11 since Michael Jordan took over as president of basketball
operations last month. The Wizards have won just 13 percent of
their games with Walker as coach, compared with 32 percent with Gar
Heard, whom Jordan fired.
Three straight jumpers by Ike Austin, Chris Whitney and Tracy
Murray put Washington ahead 72-70 with just under nine minutes
left. Detlef Schrempf tied it with a 19-foot jumper to start a 15-4
run.
Stoudamire and the Wizards' Mitch Richmond dove for a loose
ball, and it bounced to Rasheed Wallace for an easy slam that made
it 83-76 with 3:10 left.
"Not that we're looking past anyone, but we understand we have
bigger fish to fry," said Portland's Greg Anthony, who hit two
3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Wallace and Brian Grant each had 11 rebounds for the Blazers.
The Blazers completely dominated Washington inside but missed
too many easy shots to count. Their 37 percent shooting matched
Tuesday night's mark at Golden State, which broke a streak of 29
straight games shooting better than 40 percent.
The Wizards, 0-3 on a West Coast trip that ends Sunday at Golden
State, trailed by nine early but ended the first quarter on a 9-2
run to tie it 24-24.
The team then missed 10 of its 11 shots to start the second
period, and Portland took a 10-point lead and led 47-40 at the
half.
The Wizards trailed by nine before going on an 8-0 run late in
the third. A turnaround 3-pointer by Murray to beat the shot clock
cut the lead to 59-58, and an 18-foot jumper by Howard gave
Washington its first lead, 64-63 with 47.8 seconds left in the
period.
Sabonis, who scored nine points in the first quarter but just
one in the second and third because of foul trouble, started
getting the ball again in the fourth. He scored seven in the
period, including two layups to start the quarter.
His next basket, a hook with 2:34 to go, put the game out of
reach at 85-76. He fouled out with 1:40 left.
"The man knows how to play," said Strickland, a former Blazer
who played with Sabonis during the 1995-96 season. "I miss playing
with him."
Game notes
The Wizards haven't won on the road since defeating Detroit
on Dec. 21. ... Blazers reserve guard Bonzi Wells had the stomach
flu and didn't dress. ... Stoudamire and Sabonis were 9-of-12 from
the field in the first quarter and scored 20 points. The rest of
the team was 1-for-15 for four points. ... Wallace's red headband
had a slight change: It was embroidered with his Web site address,
rasheedwallace.com.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 104
Cleveland 75
Denver 95
Toronto 91
Charlotte 115
LA Clippers 87
New Jersey 91
Miami 84
LA Lakers 107
Orlando 99
Minnesota 103
Vancouver 91
San Antonio 116
Houston 92
Phoenix 85
Atlanta 73
Portland 93
Washington 85
Golden State 122
Boston 100
Sacramento 118
Seattle 85
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