The Portland Trail Blazers (51-28) got big games from Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, and overcame 32 points from Kobe Bryant, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers (63-17) 106-98 in front of 20,681 at the Rose Garden on Friday night.
Portland defeated Los Angeles at home for the second time of the 2008-2009 season, and for the eighth straight time at the Rose Garden, evening the season series at two games apiece.
Roy got going early, hitting a 24-foot three-pointer with 5:01 to play in the opening quarter putting the Trail Blazers ahead 15-13. Roy finished the first quarter Friday night with seven points. Rudy Fernandez also provided an early offensive spark, missing only one of his first three shots, finishing the first period with six points. Los Angeles closed the first quarter with a 6-to-2 scoring run, but Portland still managed a 24-23 lead after 12 minutes.
Roy continued to generate offense in the second quarter, finishing a drive with a dunk to put the Trail Blazers on top 34-27 with 9:44 remaining in the first half. The Lakers responded, putting together a 12-to-1 run, taking a 50-40 lead with 2:09 remaining in the second quarter on the second of two made Bryant free throws. The home team closed out the first half on a 9-to-3 run of their own, and entered the halftime locker room trailing 53-49.
“(Kobe’s) going to make shots, he’s Kobe,” Aldridge said. “The thing is that when he scores you can’t get rattled, you got to stay solid and make shots too.”
Aldridge struggled in the first half, shooting 2-of-8 from the field, and finishing with only six points. Roy led all scorers at the break with 16 points, and Fernandez added nine points.
Aldridge came out in the third quarter looking for an opportunity to get his shot going, and get back in the game. His time came with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter when he dunked home an alley-oop pass from Roy to cut the gap to 57-56 in favor of the Lakers. Aldridge put home a four-foot hook shot on the Trail Blazer’s next offensive possession, giving Portland back the lead at 58-57.
“We don’t look at it as (Aldridge) starting out slow,” Roy said. “They wanted to take LaMarcus out right away. Once I put him in pick and rolls we made them change their defense and he was able to get going.”
Aldridge finished the third quarter with 10 points, helping the Trail Blazers take an 81-77 lead into the final period of the night.
Portland never trailed in the fourth quarter, pushing their lead to 89-84 on a 19-foot jumper from Roy with 7:12 remaining in the game. Bryant connected on two free throws with 3:02 left on the clock pulling Los Angeles to within a single point, but the visiting team would get no closer. Fernandez and Travis Outlaw finished the game out from the free throw line. Outlaw made three of four free throws in the final 18.7 seconds of the game.
“I thought we played a good game tonight, it was a battle,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “We are an up and coming team, and we need to beat teams like this and continue to show growth.”
Roy led Portland in scoring for the 50th time this season, recording 24 points. Aldridge and Steve Blake each tallied 16 points, Fernandez finished with 15 points including a reverse ally-oop dunk on a feed from Sergio Rodriquez, and Outlaw and Greg Oden each collected 10 points.
“I think as a team everybody’s stepping up, and everybody’s playing well,” Aldridge said.
The Trail Blazers take to the road for the final time in the regular season on Saturday April 11th to meet the Clippers in Los Angeles.
NATE MCMILLAN
“We did a great job of taking care of the ball. Even after a soft second quarter we did a good job of dominating the paint and protecting the paint. I thought they were the aggressive team early in the game. We didn’t do a good job of defending on their drives to the basket. But in the second half we started to attack their basket.
“I think in the last two games against San Antonio and now the Lakers we’re still trying to establishing ourselves by sending a message both to our team and the league that we are an up-and-coming team. We’re still trying to get better but getting in this position with 51 wins and three games left to play is what you work for. Now we just have to finish the season with the same commitment because once we’re playing in the playoffs that’s where you measure yourself.
“I thought Brandon and LaMarcus had solid games but LaMarcus had a rough start. These guys have to find a way to get their rhythm and they can’t settle for just having an off night and so far their not settling for that. I thought our defense on Kobe for the most part was good. We didn’t give him to many clear looks. He got to the rim a few times but I think we contained him pretty well. (Bryant 9 of 24 from the floor.)
“For our drive for homecourt advantage it was important to come back home and get this game. Now we have to go back on the road with the same commitment to get that game. The Clippers have been a tough team for us tonight.
“We had contributions from everybody. Rudy was big off the bench again. Our bigs were solid. (18 points and 19 rebounds between Przybilla and Oden.) And Steve Blake hit some big game.”
BRANDON ROY
“We just kept fighting. We had to fight it out. Nobody quit even when they made runs (at us). We knew they played last night. We just outlasted them.
On playing against Kobe Bryant “For me, it was a challenge. He’s probably the greatest player in the game right now. I just wanted to be aggressive with him. I just able to make some shots. I had to keep being aggressive offensively. I said to myself, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose,’ and I did the best that I could.
• Portland has won eight straight home games in the series … The home team has won the last nine meetings overall.
• The Trail Blazers and Lakers have split the last 10 season series in which the teams met four times, dating back to the 1997-98 season.
• Nate McMillan is now 7-0 at home vs. the Lakers as Portland’s coach and 8-7 overall.
• The Trail Blazers are a season-high 23 games over .500 for the first time since 2000-01 … Portland’s 79-game record is its best since 1999-2000 (57-22), also the last season Portland won 51 or more games.
• Portland’s 32-7 home mark is its best 39-game record since 1991-92 (32-7) ... The 2008-09 Trail Blazers are the first to win 32 games at the Rose Garden.
• Portland has won a league-best 18 games when trailing by double figures, including all three games of its current win streak.
• The Trail Blazers are now on their eighth win streak of three games or more this season.
• The Trail Blazers improved to 11-3 at home against the West’s best nine teams in the standings.
• Portland is now 22-4 against teams playing in the second game of a back-to-back.
• Portland is 38-3 when leading after three quarters, including 26-2 at home
• The Trail Blazers have pulled down 10-plus offensive rebounds in 18 straight games ... Portland grabbed eight of its 14 offensive rebounds in the third quarter.
• Portland has a winning record, 8-7, when trailing at halftime at home this year.
• Portland improved to 35-4 when scoring 100-plus points this season.
• Rudy Fernandez has now made 148 three-pointers this season, fourth-most by a Trail Blazer all time and tied for fifth-most by a rookie in NBA history … He has made a three-pointer in all 36 of his games at the Rose Garden.
• Joel Przybilla has now led the team in rebounds 40 times.
• Portland began the second half with a 17-6 run until the 6:39 mark of the third quarter.
• Portland had the game’s first six blocks.
• Brandon Roy has now led Portland in scoring 50 times and assists 35 times this season … He scored his first points of the second half at the 7:12 mark of the fourth quarter and totaled eight in the final period overall … Roy led all scorers with 16 points in the first half.
• The Trail Blazers ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take an 81-77 edge and never trailed again in the game.
• Shannon Brown’s 10 points and 20 minutes were his most as a member of the Lakers this year.
