Three Trail Blazers Score 20+ Points, End Lakers’ Win Streak 112-103

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main

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If the Portland Trail Blazers were in the Eastern Conference, they would no doubt be in the thick of the playoff chase; unfortunately for them, having a winning record in the Western Conference does them no favors.? But there was a game to be played Tuesday, and the Blazers’ opponent was the Los Angeles Lakers.? Judging from tonight’s performance, one would think that the Lakers were the team with nothing to play for as three Blazers scored at least 22 points, giving Portland a huge 112-103 over Los Angeles at Rose Garden.

The Blazers led all of the first half, going up 49-40 on LaMarcus Aldridge’s jumper with 2:23 left in the half; they would extend their lead to 56-45 on Jarrett Jack’s 2 free throws with 42 seconds left.? As a result, Portland led going into halftime 58-47.? The Blazers went up 77-61 thanks to a 3-pointer by Steve Blake; however, Los Angeles responded with a 10-0 run led by Kobe Bryant that closed the Blazers’ lead to 77-71.? The Lakers’ Lamar Odom was called for a technical foul after a hard foul on Portland’s Brandon Roy while driving to the basket with 30 seconds left in the third quarter; Roy made both free throws, giving the Blazers an 87-71 lead.? Roy would go to the locker room and would return with about 10 minutes left in the game.

The Lakers would pull to within 102-93 with 3:39 left in the game on Vladimir Radmanovic’s trey; free throws by Sasha Vujacic and Pau Gasol would narrow the gap to 102-96.? After a layup by the Blazers’ Travis Outlaw, Radmanovic drained a 3-pointer to make it 104-99 Portland.? Bryant’s layup? got the Lakers to within 3 points, but Roy answered with a layup and free throw with 44 seconds left to put Portland up for good, 106-101.? Portland’s leading scorer was Roy with 23 points, 2 rebounds and 12 assists while Channing Frye and Aldridge scored 22 each – with Frye grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and making 3 steals while Aldridge grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out an assist and blocked a shot.? Jack added 15 with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Los Angeles was led by Bryant with 34 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block while Pau Gasol scored 21 with 13 rebounds and 4 assists; Radmanovic added 17, including 5 three-pointers, 6 rebounds and?an assist.? Portland (39-39) will now travel south to Sacramento to take on the Kings Friday while Los Angeles (53-25) returns home to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.

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