Damon Stoudamire scored 25 points and the Trail Blazers shut down Tracy McGrady in a 92-84 victory over the Orlando Magic that completed a 3-1 road trip.
"I think we came together defensively on this road trip," said the 5-10 Stoudamire, who has been playing more shooting guard of late. "We won our games defensively. The defense has been there, especially last night and tonight."
Less than a week ago, the Blazers were mired in a six-game losing streak, their longest in over six years. But Portland beat Philadelphia at home last Saturday and embarked on an eastern road trip of four games over five days.
 Ruben Patterson was flying all over the court, making eight of 11 shots, and keeping T-Mac in check on D. Paul Chapman /NBAE/Getty Images |
"We have only been together for 30 games this year," guard Bonzi Wells said. "We added a couple guys, so it has been tough to get the chemistry. Hopefully we have it down now and can start getting some wins."
"I don't think anybody takes us real light," Stoudamire said. "We just started off slow and have a lot of new faces."
However, forward Scottie Pippen was not ready to say that the Blazers (17-19) had turned things around.
"We have a long ways to go," Pippen said. "We have to take it one game at a time. We dug ourselves in a hole and we can go one game at a time. We are starting to pick it up and and that is a good sign."
Stoudamire made 9-of-15 shots as he fell two points shy of his season high. He repeatedly turned back surges by Orlando and helped Portland hold the lead for the entire second half.
"He's had an excellent trip," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He's played great and (at) a high level for a while now. Having Scottie out there allows us to take Damon off the ball and enables him to score."
Pippen, Rasheed Wallace and Ruben Patterson used their wingspans to thwart McGrady, who scored 17 points but made just 6-of-17 shots. The All-Star swingman was held below 20 points for just the sixth time this season.
"I knew T-Mac was going to take most of the shots," Patterson said. "I thought I played great defense on him tonight. He made some tough shots. He is a great player, an All-Star."
Already hampered by a sore back, McGrady said he was bothered by a groin injury.
"Tonight, for whatever reason, it really hurt," McGrady said. "At the beginning of the game, I was hurting so bad, I was trying to tolerate the pain. But the way I came out and played, I didn't have any energy and the team didn't have any energy."
"He played 40 minutes, but he looked like he was laboring a little bit," Cheeks said. "Our whole team defense was pretty good, but the guys that focused on McGrady did a great job."
Wallace scored 19 points and Patterson added 18 off the bench for Portland, which held a 50-35 rebounding edge and beat Orlando for the sixth straight time.
Darrell Armstrong scored 16 points and Mike Miller added 14 for the Magic, who made just 6-of-19 3-pointers. During their winning streak, they had shot 44 percent (40-of-91) from the arc.
"We acted disinterested," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "We didn't execute offensively. Just not a characteristic of this team, especially during this stretch."
"They were ripe for the picking and we just laid down and let them come into our place and kick our butts," forward Monty Williams said.
A three-point play by Wells, who scored 14 points, gave Portland the lead for good at 44-41 with 4:13 left in the second quarter. Stoudamire scored 14 points in the first half, including a pair of free throws and a layup in the final minute that widened the margin to 54-49.
In the third quarter, Orlando made just 1-of-8 3-pointers and Portland opened a 63-53 lead on a jumper by Wallace with 7:39 left.
The Blazers led 71-64 entering the final period, but Troy Hudson scored six straight points to pull the Magic within one with 10:43 to play.
Portland was clinging to a 75-73 lead before Stoudamire had a three-point play, threw an alley-oop pass for a dunk by Wallace and made a layup for an 82-73 bulge with 6:05 left.
"Damon is stepping up. He is bringing a lot of leadership," Patterson said. "He went through a lot of issues earlier in the season, but he has stepped up big-time for us the last couple of games."
Patterson had a dunk and Derek Anderson added two in a row to make it 92-82 in the final minute.
Anderson scored nine points and Pippen had 10 assists and 10 rebounds for the Blazers, who shot 43 percent (35-of-82).
Pat Garrity added 11 points for the Magic, who shot 45 percent (33-of-74).