November 27th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Apparently it must be something in the drinking water in the Willamette River, the tributary that flows alongside the city of Portland, OR – the home of the Trail Blazers. the Miami Heat came to take on the Trail Blazers Wednesday night and their effort gave the impression that they were lethargic – or at least their shooting touch was lethargic. Nonetheless, Portland scored 37 points in the first quarter and the Heat could never catch up as the Trail Blazers won a laugher 106-68 at the Rose Garden.
Portland scored the first 12 points of the game and led 28-8 just 8 minutes into the game; Mario Chalmers scored twice to spark a Miami run of 10 unanswered points, pulling them to within 46-33 in the second quarter. But the Trail Blazers completed the first half with an 8-2 run capped with a dunk by LaMarcus Aldridge, giving Portland a 59-40 halftime lead. Portland hung into a 19-point lead after three quarters then ended the Heat’s chance to rally by scoring the first 12 points of the final period, making the end result academic.
Portland’s high scorer was Channing Frye from off the bench with 17 points, 3 rebounds and an assist while Aldridge added 16 with 7 rebounds, an assist and 3 blocked shots; Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw chipped in, scoring 15 apiece – with Batum grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists along with 2 steals while Outlaw grabbed 2 rebounds, dished out 3 assists with a blocked shot. Miami was led by Michael Beasley with 14 points, 4 rebounds and a steal while Dwyane Wade had easily his worst game of the season by adding 12 with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. Portland (10-6) does not play again until Friday when they remain at home to host the New Orleans Hornets while Miami (7-8) travels to Phoenix to take on the Phoenix Suns – also on Friday.
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