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03.15.09 TRAIL BLAZERS VS. HAWKS
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After staying close in the first half, the Portland Trail Blazers were outscored by 15 in the second half, eventually falling 98-90 to the Atlanta Hawks in an early road game Sunday morning. The game was the first of a crucial five-game road trip.
“You can’t be down on the road and make a comeback,” said Brandon Roy. “It’s just too tough. Today we didn’t really get off to too bad a start. We were only down three at halftime, but even then we weren’t playing well.”
Roy finished with 29 points for the Trail Blazers, who have lost two of three. Portland dropped a half-game behind Denver for the Northwest Division lead and fell out of a three-way tie with the Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets for fourth place in the Western Conference.
Joe Johnson, who scored 15 points in the third quarter, shot 15-for-27 from the field in his fourth straight 30-point game. He handed out six assists, but missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
“There was no movement on the defensive end,” said Nate McMillan. “We know what Joe (Johnson) is capable of. He made some tough shots in isolation today. You have to bring more energy and more scrap when you play on the road. We have to play with more energy than we did tonight.”
Atlanta improved to 25-7 at home. The Trail Blazers have lost seven of eight on the road.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 13 of his 19 points in the third for Portland, which had won three straight and 12 of 13 against Atlanta.
Roy hit seven straight shots from the beginning of the second quarter until he missed a layup that led to Aldridge's turnover late in the third. The Hawks then began to pull away, with Al Horford's three-point play with 9:44 left in the period giving them their first double-digit lead at 50-39.
Smith drove past Aldridge and Nicolas Batum for a hard dunk from the left baseline late in the third to give the Hawks an eight-point lead.
“The Hawks played like the more aggressive team and like they wanted it more,” said Roy. “Their movement was better on offense, pushing the ball and getting to the rim. We didn’t do anything to try to slow that down. When you let a team run that free at home, you don’t stand a chance.”
Rudy Fernandez returned to the Portland lineup after missing two games with chest and hip injuries. Hospitalized after a foul by the Lakers' Trevor Ariza last Monday, Fernandez went scoreless in 18 minutes.
The Trail Blazers won’t have time to linger on Sunday’s loss, as a game against he Grizzlies in Memphis looms Monday. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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