Bobcats-Trail Blazers Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 01 2012 2:28AM

While they've struggled to win on the road, the Portland Trail Blazers have experienced few problems at home. A visit from the NBA's worst club should help them continue that trend.

The Blazers will try to improve to 10-1 at the Rose Garden on Wednesday night by sending the Charlotte Bobcats to a 10th consecutive defeat both overall and on the road.

Portland (12-9) dropped to 3-8 away from home Monday with a 93-89 loss to Utah and didn't help itself with a 5-of-20 performance from 3-point range and 25 fewer free-throw attempts. The Blazers also gave up 24 second-chance points and were outscored 20-6 on fast-break points.

All those factors aided the Jazz's comeback from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter.

"We definitely had control, and we let it slip away," said forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with 25 points and seven rebounds. "No excuses. They kept playing hard and they ended up coming back and stealing one."

Portland might have a better performance Wednesday, as it's averaging 104.0 points at home compared with 90.5 on the road. The Blazers are also allowing 3.5 fewer points per game at the Rose Garden and could improve that average against the Bobcats (3-19).

Charlotte is producing just 81.1 points per contest during its road losing streak and 84.0 over its last nine overall. The Bobcats shot less than 40.0 percent (35.2) for the fourth time in five games Tuesday during a 106-73 drubbing at the Los Angeles Lakers.

They were outscored 60-36 in the first half and 33-15 in the fourth quarter despite the return of three players to the lineup, including leading scorer Gerald Henderson from a bruised lower back. The guard finished with 14 points as his team faces its longest losing streak since a franchise-record 13 straight defeats Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 2006, and its fourth-longest overall.

The Bobcats haven't lost 10 in a row on the road in one season since an 11-game skid Nov. 7, 2007-Jan. 4, 2008.

"We've got a horrible record and we're trying to make our way back up," Henderson said. "We're starting to get guys back healthy. In fact, it seems like every game we get a new guy back. So hopefully, as we get more acclimated to each other, things will start improving."

Henderson paced his team with 16 points during its previous visit to Portland on March 5, but the Bobcats didn't get much else in a 93-69 rout. Aldridge's 26 points led the way but he missed 11 of 17 shots during a 97-92 loss in Charlotte six days later.

The win was the Bobcats' first in five matchups with the Blazers, but they've dropped three in a row in Portland after splitting the first four games there. Charlotte might not have starting guard D.J. Augustin available to end that skid as he's missed the past five games with an ailing toe.

The Blazers will also be short-handed with reserve forward Nicolas Batum dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee suffered in Monday's defeat. An MRI on Tuesday showed no breaks or tears in the joint.

"When I came home and saw the video, it was like, 'I'm done for the season.'" said Batum, averaging 11.4 points and 4.1 rebounds. "I was scared of it, but I was so happy after (the MRI). I might miss the next two games but after that, we'll see."

Blazers hand Bobcats 10th straight loss, 112-68

By ANNE M. PETERSON
Posted Feb 02 2012 2:00AM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Charlotte guard Gerald Henderson said that there wasn't much the Bobcats could do while suffering the worst defeat in franchise history.

The Portland Trail Blazers led by as many as 48 points and went on to beat the Bobcats 112-68 on Wednesday night.

"It gets to a point where it's just embarassasing, and you don't want to continue," said Henderson, who led Charlotte with 16 points before leaving the game with a right hamstring injury in the third quarter. "So you just have to continue to play hard. I love to play this game, so it's more of a pride thing than anything."

Charlotte's 44-margin of defeat topped the previous franchise-worst in a 120-80 loss at Denver last March 2.

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points in 21 minutes for the Blazers, who improved to 10-1 at the Rose Garden this season. Gerald Wallace, traded to the Blazers from Charlotte last year, scored 23 points while LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 before Portland sat all of its starters in the fourth quarter.

It was the Bobcats' 10th straight loss, their longest losing streak since an 11-game slide from November 2007 to early January 2008.

Charlotte, which has the NBA's worst record at 3-20, was coming off a 106-73 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night to open a four-game road trip. Charlotte has now lost 10 straight on the road, dropping to 1-12 away from home this season.

The Bobcats have been beset by injuries. Guard D.J. Augustin has been out with right toe inflammation, and forward Corey Maggette has a left hamstring strain. The extent of Henderson's hamstring injury was not immediately known.

"I don't have a full squad," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. "That's the way I look at it. If I had a full squad and we were losing this way, it would be awful. But you take Aldridge and Wallace off their team and see what kind of team you'd have."

It was a season-high for points for the Blazers, and a season-low for the Bobcats. It was Portland's largest margin of victory since they beat Dallas 120-75 on Nov. 17, 1997.

Wallace, who is still bitter about the trade, didn't feel sorry for the Bobcats.

"Personally, I wanted to keep going. I didn't even want to come out of the game," he said. "It's one of those things where, like I said last year around this time, I didn't feel like I was traded, I felt like I was stabbed in the back."

Portland led 40-18 early in the second quarter and Crawford hit three straight 3-pointers to put the Blazers up 53-25 midway through the period. The lead was 61-35 lead by halftime, giving the Blazers their highest first-half total of the season.

Portland extended the lead to 79-43 in the third on Wallace's layup and free throw. Aldridge left the game for good late in the quarter, and most of the rest of Portland's starters sat down soon thereafter.

"I don't think I've played only 26 minutes since my first year in the league," Aldridge said.

It got so bad that at one point a fan in the crowd yelled, "C'mon Charlotte! Make it a game!"

The Blazers were without forward Nicolas Batum, who was out with a left knee bone bruise. Batum, averaging 11.4 points and 4.1 rebounds off the bench, injured his knee in the final seconds of Portland's 93-89 loss at Utah on Monday. Batum is considered day-to-day, although coach Nate McMillan said he will miss Thursday night's game at Sacramento.

His absence meant extra playing time for Craig Smith, a free agent acquired in training camp, and Elliot Williams, a rookie after missing all of last season because of injuries on both knees. Smith finished with six points and Williams had four.

The Bobcats shot just 32 percent from the floor, compared to 55 percent for the Blazers.

NOTES: NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, a Bobcats' season ticket holder, attended the game. ... Bobcats GM Rich Cho was dismissed from the same position with the Blazers last summer after less than a year on the job. ... At the half, local restaurant chain Burgerville donated $54,000 to former Trail Blazer Brian Grant's foundation to fight Parkinson's disease. Grant was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2008. ... It was Portland's eighth-best margin of victory in franchise history.

Notebook: Trail Blazers 112, Bobcats 68

By Kerry Eggers, for NBA.com
Posted Thursday February 2, 2012 1:25AM

THE FACTS: It was all Portland from start to finish in a 112-69 shellacking of woeful Charlotte Wednesday night at the Rose Garden. The Blazers (13-9) jumped in front 35-18 after one quarter and led 92-48 after three quarters in its most one-sided victory of the season. Jamal Crawford scored 24 points in 21 minutes off the bench as the Blazers improved to 10-1 at home. Gerald Wallace added 23 points and LaMarcus Aldridge 22 for the winners. Gerald Henderson scored 16 points for the Bobcats (3-20), who dropped their 10th in a row.

QUOTABLE: "Not at all. I wanted to keep going. I didn't even want to come out of the game. It stings. Like I said last year around this time, I felt I was betrayed, I was stabbed in the back. This was my first opportunity to play against them. You get that out of the way, and you move forward."
-- Gerald Wallace, asked if he felt sorry for the team that traded him at midseason last year.

THE STAT: Portland won virtually every category, including field-goal percentage (.550 to .325), 3-point percentage (.500 to .111), rebounds (43-39), steals (18-6), points in the paint (58-26) and fast-break points (23-8).

TURNING POINT: It was 9-7 midway through the first quarter when the Blazers turned on the jets, outscoring the Bobcats 18-4 over the next four minutes. It was never a contest thereafter.

QUOTABLE II: "You take three top players off anyone's team and they're not going to do well. If I had a full squad and we were losing this way, it would be awful. But you take Aldridge and Wallace off [the Blazers], and see what kind of team you have."
-- Charlotte coach Paul Silas, who was without injured starters D.J. Augustin and Corey Maggette and lost a third one, guard Gerald Henderson, to a hamstring injury in the second half.

HOT: Crawford missed his first three shots, then made eight in a row -- the first three 3-pointers. He finished 9-for-14 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

NOT: Charlotte rookie Kemba Walker looked out of his element all night, making 1-for-11 shots from the field.

QUOTABLE III: "Basketball's a humbling game. Some days, you have it like that, and some days it's a dogfight. You take the wins any way you can get them."
-- Jamal Crawford.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Carolina Panthers quarterback Derek Anderson, a former Oregon State standout, was in the house.

GOOD MOVE: Crawford's dipsy-do layup for his eighth straight basket at the end of the third quarter was the offensive move of the night. Marcus Camby's block of a Walker run-out earlier in the period was the defensive play of the game.

BAD MOVE: Walker -- listed at 6-foot-1 but seemingly shorter -- kept trying to drive the ball to the basket. He was blocked four times.

NOTABLE: The 44-point margin was the most one-sided defeat in Charlotte franchise history. The Bobcats' previous record was 40 points in a 120-80 loss at Denver last season. The last time Portland won by more than 44 points was in a 120-75 rout of Dallas in November 1997.

UP NEXT: For the Blazers, Thursday at Sacramento, Saturday vs. Denver, Monday vs. Oklahoma City. For the Bobcats, Saturday at Phoenix, Tuesday at Boston, Friday vs. Chicago.

• Bobcats: Augustin, Maggette
• Trail Blazers: Batum, Oden

• Bobcats: --
• Trail Blazers: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Rose Garden, Portland, OR
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #70 Brent Barnaky, #30 John Goble
• Attendance: 20608
• Duration: 2:07