ESPN Network: ESPN.com | NFL.com | NBA.com | NHL.com | WNBA.com | ABCSports | EXPN | FANTASY | INSIDER

  Scores/Schedules
  Standings
  Statistics
  Transactions
  Injuries
  Players
  Message Board
  NBA StatSearch
  NBA en espaņol
Clubhouses






Monday, Mar. 26 10:00pm ET
Blazers pulling out of tailspin

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- It's the time of season when every game is labeled "big."

The Portland Trail Blazers responded by winning their third straight Monday night, downing the Los Angeles Clippers 104-96 as Rasheed Wallace and Steve Smith each scored 19 points.

"We're in the thick of a fight right now," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "These last games coming down the stretch, (we're) jockeying for position, so every game's big."

The Blazers are finally starting to play like they are big, even the ones against the Clippers. Bonzi Wells added 15 points for the Blazers, who evened their season series with the Clippers and won for the fourth time in five games after dropping five straight. Portland shot 62.5 percent from beyond the arc to move within one game of Sacramento and a half-game of the second-place Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division standings.

Corey Maggette scored 19 for the Clippers, who cut the Blazers' lead to seven points in the fourth but got no closer in dropping their sixth straight road game.

"We didn't have everybody clicking at the same time, and it cost us the game," said Jeff McInnis, who finally started clicking in the fourth quarter after going one for eight in the first three.

Portland built a 12-point lead when Arvydas Sabonis hit a wide-open jumper 1:20 into the second half, and the Blazers answered every Los Angeles run to keep a double-digit lead nearly the rest of the way. Wallace had nine points in the period, including two 3-pointers that stopped Clipper comebacks.

When the Clippers cut the lead to 70-60, the Blazers answered with a 10-6 run capped by two 3-pointers that put them up 80-66 by the end of the third quarter. Sabonis hit the first, after the Blazers passed around the horn and back to their center with 1:13 left, and Wallace hit a wide-open 3 with 32.2 seconds left for the quarter's last score.

After the Blazers went up 88-70 on Steve Smith's layup with 7:50 left in the game, though, Los Angeles started to cut into the lead. McInnis hit a 3-pointer with 4:01 left to cut Portland's lead to 91-83, and hit another with 1:16 left to bring the Clippers within 102-95.

But after Portland failed to score, Darius Miles hit only one of two free throws, and Lamar Odom fouled out with 19.1 left, putting Steve Smith at the line for his third and fourth free throws of the quarter.

"We always gave them that 8-point cushion," said Clippers coach Alvin Gentry. "It never came down to one big shot. If it had, it might have been interesting."

The Clippers never seemed to click together though, and the Blazers jumped on the lapses.

Portland went up 20-6 with 3:37 left in the first quarter on Wells' 3-pointer that just beat the shot clock. Wells hit all three of his shots and finished with seven points in the opening period, but the Blazers managed only one point in the final three minutes.

The Clippers shot just 30 percent from the field and Lamar Odom was their only starter to hit a field goal in the period, but they trimmed their deficit to 21-15 with an 11-3 run.

Portland got 14 points from Shawn Kemp -- nine in the second quarter to help hold the Clippers off -- and 11 from Stacey Augmon as the Blazers got at least 17 minutes from 10 different players.

"They played five guys off the bench and every one of those guys has been on the all-star team before," Gentry said. "We weren't even born when some of them were on the all-star team.

"They are a great team. I still think they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the West."

Game notes
Wallace's long, high inbound pass with 2.6 seconds left in the first quarter shattered a mirror on the bottom of the scoreboard, bringing officials and ball boys on the court to clean up the debris. ... Augmon started for the first time since a Feb. 22 loss to Utah and scored five of Portland's first nine points. Augmon started ahead of Scottie Pippen, who was feeling under the weather. ... The Clippers took two games from the Blazers in Los Angeles, but lost the last two of the series in Portland. ... Portland has now won 18 of the last 19 in Portland. The Clippers' last win in Portland was April 11, 1999, when they won 89-83.

Send this story to a friend
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

LA Clippers Clubhouse

Portland Clubhouse

RECAPS
Philadelphia 90
Milwaukee 78

Denver 109
Chicago 104

Phoenix 104
LA Lakers 83

Dallas 98
Utah 90

Portland 104
LA Clippers 96

Seattle 104
Cleveland 86

New York 89
Golden State 87

AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Darius Miles goes up and under for the score.
avi: 466 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1


ESPN.com:  HELP |  ADVERTISER INFO |  CONTACT US |  TOOLS |  SITE MAP
Copyright ©2000 ESPN Internet Group. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information are applicable to this site. Employment opportunities at ESPN.com.