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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – During the time that Arvydas Sabonis
usually rests on the bench, he was tearing up the Los Angeles
Clippers.
|  | | Dale Davis, left, collapses on the Clippers' Lamar Odom. |
The Portland Trail Blazers' 36-year-old center scored 15 of his
23 points in the fourth quarter as the Trail Blazers beat the
Clippers for the first time in three tries, 94-81 Thursday night.
"It was what we needed," Blazers forward Scottie Pippen said
of Sabonis' outburst. "I think we showed some fatigue in the
second half. Sabas did a great job of getting inside."
Damon Stoudamire added 17 points and nine assists for the
Blazers, who lost to the Clippers twice in February, both at
Staples Center: 90-89 on Feb. 3 and 123-120 in double overtime on
Saturday.
"That's a team out there that's on the rise," Stoudamire said.
"You can't take them lightly."
Portland again had trouble with the much younger Clippers, who
shot 51 percent in the first half and led 46-45. Los Angeles folded
in the second half, however, shooting 34 percent and putting up
numerous airballs.
Eric Piatkowski scored 15 to lead the Clippers, who lost their
third straight since the win over Portland.
Lamar Odom, the Clippers' leading scorer at 17.2 points per
game, was held to three points on 1-for-2 shooting in 27 minutes. He
left in the third quarter with a bruised left hip after tripping
and didn't return.
"We're not quite ready to win without Lamar yet," Clippers
coach Alvin Gentry said. "Once we got behind without Lamar, I
looked up, and the last six minutes of the game we had a
19-year-old and three 20-year-olds out there."
Odom said it was "50-50" whether he would play in the
Clippers' game Friday against Sacramento.
Stoudamire carried the Blazers in the third quarter by scoring
11 points. He started the period with a 20-foot jumper that put the
Blazers ahead for good, 47-46. The Clippers stayed in it, but a
spectacular basket by Stoudamire gave Portland a seven-point lead
entering the fourth.
With time running down in the period, Sabonis put up a hook shot
that fell short. Stoudamire reached up over the Clippers' Jeff
McInnis, grabbed the ball and lofted it into the basket at the horn
for a 69-62 lead.
Rasheed Wallace, who had averaged 31.6 points over his last
five, took just 12 shots and scored 15 points.
"Sheed said he was feeling a little tired, so he said, `You're
going to have to shoot a little more tonight.' I said, `All
right,"' Stoudamire said.
Sabonis tied his season high for points set Jan. 30 against
Chicago. He made 10 of 17 shots, including a 23-foot jumper that
gave the Blazers their biggest lead, 94-78, with 1:49 to go.
The first half was close. Stoudamire drove down
the lane two straight times for layups to put the Blazers ahead
25-24, but Clippers center Michael Olowokandi banked a hook shot
off the glass to close the first quarter.
The Blazers went with mostly veteran reserves early in the
second; at one point, their lineup of Sabonis, Steve Smith, Shawn
Kemp, Stacey Augmon and Scottie Pippen averaged 33 years and 5
months, while the Clippers averaged 24 years, 3 months.
Los Angeles jumped to a 34-27 lead on a goaltending violation by
Kemp, but after getting Wallace back in the game, the Blazers
pulled close again.
A 3-pointer by Corey Maggette gave the Clippers a 46-43 lead
late in the quarter, but a baseline 16-foot jumper by Sabonis with
one-tenth of a second left got the Blazers within one.
Game notes
The Blazers moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Sacramento for first
place in the Pacific Division. ... The Clippers were trying to beat
Portland for the third straight time, something the franchise
hasn't accomplished since the 1973-74 season, when it was the
Buffalo Braves. ... Portland's Greg Anthony missed his fourth
straight game with a sore right shoulder.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Clippers Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Seattle 101
Cleveland 99
New York 95
Boston 88
Houston 108
Milwaukee 91
San Antonio 91
Phoenix 71
Portland 94
LA Clippers 81
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