Warriors-Trail Blazers Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Mar 25 2012 2:29AM

The Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors both underwent major overhauls at the trade deadline and the results have been about as expected.

The struggling teams face off at the Rose Garden on Sunday night.

Portland has lost 10 of 14 since the All-Star break to drop into 12th place in the Western Conference, four games behind the eighth and final playoff spot.

With the team struggling, the Trail Blazers (22-26) fired coach Nate McMillan and promoted assistant Kaleb Canales to take his place on March 15. They also traded starters Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace that day.

After defeating league-leading Chicago in its first game after the moves, Portland has averaged 93.8 points the last four games while giving up 105.8. It led by 12 points in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday before losing 103-96.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and nine rebounds and J.J. Hickson scored 14 in his Blazers debut, but that wasn't enough to offset a 53-29 disadvantage on the boards.

"We have got to rebound," Hickson said. "This is where the game was lost. We fought hard enough. That's the first time that coach has come into the locker room and said he admired the way we fought. We just have to get ready to play Golden State."

Portland dropped to 2-3 since Canales took over. Still, the team is able to take away the positives during a difficult stretch of games - all of which have come against playoff contenders.

"We believe in all our players," Canales said. "We came out tonight and were staying in the moment, trying to control what we can control. ... We just came up a little short."

Golden State, which is one game back of Portland, edged Sacramento 111-108 on Saturday for its second win in seven games. Rookie Klay Thompson scored a career-high 31 points, David Lee had 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and the Warriors held on after the Kings turned the ball over on a late possession.

"It's a great learning experience, but it's no fun unless you win them," Lee said. "You can have all the learning experiences you want and never win a game."

It's been a difficult month for the Warriors (20-26), who traded leading scorer and fan favorite Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown before the deadline for injured center Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson, who was dealt to San Antonio for Richard Jefferson.

Thompson has been effective since stepping into the lineup in place of Ellis. He's averaging 20.1 points the last eight games and shot 10 of 20 Saturday.

There wasn't much depth behind Thompson on Saturday. Point guard Stephen Curry missed his seventh straight game - and 20th this season - with a sprain in his surgically repaired right ankle while backup Nate Robinson strained his right hamstring and didn't play in the second half.

Golden State and Portland have split two meetings this season at Oracle Arena. Lee has averaged 27.5 points on 61 percent shooting (25-for-41) and 8.0 rebounds in those contests.

The Warriors have won two of their last three visits to Portland after dropping four in a row there.

Aldridge, Felton lead Blazers past Warriors, 90-87

By ANNE M. PETERSON
Posted Mar 26 2012 1:08AM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) LaMarcus Aldridge felt he had missed enough easy shots for the night.

"I thought my time was coming," he said. "The odds had to even up."

They did. Aldridge hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper that gave the Trail Blazers the lead over the Golden State Warriors with 39.9 seconds to go Sunday night. He added a pair of free throws for the 90-87 victory.

Aldridge finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Raymond Felton scored a season-high 24 for the Blazers, who evened their record at 3-3 since Kaleb Canales replaced fired coach Nate McMillan.

" We talks about resolve and I felt like guys responded tonight," Canales said. "LaMarcus made huge plays down the stretch. He had a big shot, but more than that, he made the right reads and plays tonight."

Brandon Rush hit two straight 3-pointers that gave Golden State an 85-80 lead with 3:37 left. But two free throws later, Felton made a 3 to tie it at 85 with 2:32 left.

Wesley Matthews missed one of two free throws for Portland before David Lee's tip-in gave the Warriors back the lead. After Aldridge's jumper put Portland in front, Lee fouled Aldridge and he made his free throws for the final margin.

Golden State rookie Charles Jenkins missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer and the Warriors lost for the sixth time in eight games.

"I think we showed a lot about our team - the fight that we have, the fight we're going to have the rest of the season," said Felton, who also had seven assists.

Jenkins finished with a career-high 27 points starting in place of injured guard Nate Robinson, who strained his right hamstring in the Warriors' 111-108 victory over the Kings the previous night, was in uniform but did not play.

"Tonight coach told me to be a little more aggressive and I got it going a little bit. I was able to get away with taking more shots than normal," Jenkins said. "Luckily, they were falling tonight. Unfortunately, we didn't win so I can't celebrate."

The Blazers won despite shooting just 36.5 percent from the field (31 of 85). It is the only time they've won a game this season shooting less than 40 percent.

Jenkins pointed to Aldridge's defense on the final play of the game.

"It was drawn up for me to come off of a screen, but they switched it and LaMarcus Aldridge - his arms are very long," he said. "There was no way I could get the shot off with that little bit of time, so that was a tough play."

Both teams have dealt with upheaval in recent weeks.

The Warriors traded away fan favorite Monta Ellis and have been starting rookie Klay Thompson, who has scored in double figures in the last six games, including a career-high 31 points Saturday night against the Kings.

Thompson and Lee both finished with 16 against the Blazers.

The Blazers dismissed McMillan and traded away starters Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace at the NBA trade deadline on March 15. Canales was still trying to assimilate newcomers Jonny Flynn and Hasheem Thabeet, as well as forward J.J. Hickson, acquired off waivers from the Kings.

The Blazers jumped out to a 17-11 lead on Aldridge's dunk off a pass from Felton. But the Warriors closed the gap before the first quarter was over, and went ahead 27-26 on Jenkins' pull-up jumper.

Lee's layup and free throw gave Golden State a 41-33 lead late in the second quarter, and the Warriors were up 45-40 at the break.

Golden State stretched the advantage to 53-45 on Thompson's jumper, but the Blazers closed to 57-56 on Aldridge's dunk before going ahead on consecutive long jumpers from Felton.

The game shifted in Portland's way when Felton grabbed a steal but fell trying to control it, and passed it from the floor to Nicolas Batum, who went in for the fast-break layup and free throw to put Portland ahead 65-59.

Thompson's 3-pointer got the Warriors as close as 70-69 early in the fourth quarter. Jenkins' pull-up jumper and a layup put Golden State in front 75-72, but the Blazers went up 80-77 on Felton's 3-pointer with 5 minutes to go.

Felton made four of seven 3-point attempts in the game.

The Blazers were coming off a 103-96 loss to the Lakers Friday night at Staples Center.

NOTES: McMillan, fired as the Blazers' coach on March 15, took out a full-page ad in the Oregonian newspaper Sunday, thanking fans for their support: "Coaches come and go but one thing that will never change is the unique bond that Portland and Oregon has with its NBA team," McMillan wrote in the ad. Earlier this week, McMiIllan dropped by the team's practice facility to personally thank the employees there. ... Jenkins' previous career high was 15 at Sacramento on March 13. ... Warriors guard Stephen Curry missed his eighth straight game with a sprain of his surgically repaired right ankle.

Notebook: Trail Blazers 90, Warriors 87

Posted Monday March 26, 2012 12:22AM

By Kerry Eggers, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Raymond Felton scored 19 of his season-high 24 points in the second half to lead Portland to a come-from-behind 90-87 victory over Golden State Tuesday night at the Rose Garden.

The Blazers trailed 85-80 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining but outscored the visitors 10-2 the rest of the way.

LaMarcus Aldridge collected 18 points and nine rebounds for Portland (23-26), while Nicolas Batum contributed 17 points and eight boards.

Rookie guard Charles Jenkins scored a season-high 27 points for Golden State (20-27).

QUOTABLE: "It's what we need from him. I didn't shoot it particularly well tonight, but I didn't have to. Ray stepped up and made his shots for us. He never lost his confidence, and we never lost confidence in him."
-- Wesley Matthews, on beleaguered teammate Felton.

THE STAT: The Blazers won despite shooting .365 from the field -- the first time they have prevailed this season when shooting below 40 percent.

TURNING POINT: Golden State led 85-80 with the clock approaching three minutes to go, but Matthews made three free throws, Felton a 3-pointer and Aldridge a jumper and a pair of gift shots down the stretch to bring the Blazers back.

HOT: Jenkins -- a last-minute replacement for injured Nate Robinson at point guard -- was 6-for-6 and scored 13 points in the first quarter. He finished 13 for 22 and also had six assists in his 40 minutes.

NOT: Portland's Jamal Crawford never got it going, making only 1-of-10 shots from the field.

QUOTABLE II: "Look at the kid, Jenkins. Our game plan tonight was to make him shoot. He made us pay. My hat is off to him. He had a terrific game. But we showed a lot about our team, the fight we're going to have for the rest of the season. That's the way we're going to play."
-- Felton on the Warriors' Jenkins.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Russell Hornsby of the TV series "Grimm" was in the house.

GOOD MOVE: The Blazers, trailing 87-86, went to Aldridge on the block inside the final minute. Portland's all-star forward swished a turnaround jumper from the baseline to put the hosts on top 88-87 with 39.5 seconds to go.

BAD MOVE: With the ball trailing 90-87 after a timeout with 20.2 seconds left, Golden State had time enough to get a quick two-point basket, then play defense and foul if necessary. The Warriors seemed determined to shoot a 3-pointer, though, and Jenkins wound up taking a 26-footer under pressure that was an airball as time expired.

QUOTABLE III: "That's the only (video) clip we're going to watch tomorrow during corrections. The defense was phenomenal. our communication was great, and we got after it."
-- Portland head coach Kaleb Canales on the Blazers' defense during the Warriors' final possession, when they were down by three points with 20 seconds left but barely were able to get off a shot.

NOTABLE: The Blazers have won consecutive games over the Warriors for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

UP NEXT: For the Blazers, vs. Oklahoma City Tuesday, vs. New Orleans Thursday, @ L.A. Clippers Friday. For the Warriors, vs. L.A. Lakers Tuesday, vs. New Orleans Wednesday, vs. New Jersey Friday.

• Warriors: Bogut, Wright
• Trail Blazers: Williams, Williams

• Warriors: --
• Trail Blazers: --

• Lead Changes: 15
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Rose Garden, Portland, OR
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #36 David Jones, #63 Derek Richardson
• Attendance: 20636
• Duration: 2:07