Ruben Patterson scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and fellow reserve Steve Kerr made the biggest shot of the game to lead the Blazers to a 96-90 victory over the struggling Indiana Pacers.
Portland has been battling injuries all season and although Damon Stoudamire returned from a hamstring injury Friday, Pippen remains sidelined with a bruised knee.
 Damon Stoudamire made an immediate impact in his return from injury. Sam Forencich NBAE/Getty Images |
Portland never led in the first three quarters but opened the fourth with a 13-4 run and took the lead, 79-77, on a basket by Patterson with 6:39 to go.
The lead changed hands four times before Kerr nailed a running jumper between two defenders to put the Blazers ahead for good, 89-88, with 45 seconds left.
"I got a little bit of an opening," Kerr said. "I always feel if I have a shot I should take it, and it went in."
Patterson made 7-of-12 shots and collected nine rebounds and four steals in 39 minutes.
"I'm satisfied with my role," he said. "I'm going to bring energy, and that's what I did tonight."
Rasheed Wallace led Portland with 26 points, four blocks and four steals. Kerr finished with 13 points and rookie Zack Randolph added 10 as the Blazers' bench outscored its Pacers' counterpart, 52-22.
"We got big games from our bench," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Steve Kerr, Zach, Damon and Ruben were great out there. Our bench came out and helped us."
Reggie Miller scored a season-high 24 points to lead five players in double figures for Indiana.
Former BlazerJermaine O'Neal had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Al Harrington added 16 points off the bench for the Pacers, who have lost three straight. Jalen Rose also scored 16 points and rookie Jamaal Tinsley had 10 and 14 assists but committed nine of Indiana's 19 turnovers.
The Pacers scored the game's first seven points and made 11-of-22 shots in the opening quarter to take a 28-15 lead.
Indiana used a 9-2 run to open its largest lead, 42-26, on a dunk by Harrington with 4:53 to go.
"We played pretty bad (in the first half)," Patterson said. "We weren't playing Blazer basketball and we came in here at halftime and said we have to start playing. We didn't lose our focus."
Indiana went into a halftime with a 53-39 cushion but was outscored, 27-20, in the third, when Wallace had eight points.
"We didn't come out with any sense of urgency," Miller said. "We had control of the game and we let it get away. When a team is behind the eight-ball like they were in the first half, you have to put them away."
Miller scored 19 points through three quarters and made 6-of-9 shots, including 5-of-7 3-pointers. But he made just two shots in the final period, including a 3-pointer that gave the Pacers their last lead, 86-83, with 2:23 to go.
Patterson responded with a spinning lefthanded layup and, after Miller missed a 3-pointer, gave Portland the lead with a driving layup with 1:23 remaining.
O'Neal dished to Tinsley for a wide-open layup for an 88-87 edge before Kerr squeezed between Miller and O'Neal to nail his clutch jumper.
Stoudamire made four straight free throws and Wallace added a pair with one second left to seal the win.
"This is our best win so far," Cheeks said. "When you're down like that, it didn't look good for us, but we had no quit and this team pulled together."