The AP reports: Brandon Roy keyed the rally, Travis Outlaw hit the go-ahead shot and the Portland Trail Blazers kept their fight alive for home court in the Western Conference playoffs. Outlaw banked in a 14-footer with 13 seconds left to complete Portland’s comeback, and the Trail Blazers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 96-93 on Tuesday night. Roy, who scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, stole the ball from Memphis guard Mike Conley with 8 seconds left, then hit the ensuing two free throws to preserve the win… Rudy Fernandez and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15 apiece for the Trail Blazers. Outlaw finished with 11 points and Greg Oden scored 10… Mayo led Memphis with 31 points, hitting 13 of his 21 shots, going 5-of-7 outside the arc. Rudy Gay had 19 before fouling out on Outlaw’s go-ahead basket. Hakim Warrick added 13 points and Conley 12.
Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog
Trail Blazers blog – Portland Trail Blazers basketball blog
Rockets beat Blazers 102-88
The AP reports: Houston beat Portland 102-88 on Sunday night, just hours after the Trail Blazers got their first playoff berth since 2003 when Dallas beat Phoenix 140-116… Yao Ming led the Rockets with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the win which moves Houston ahead of Portland into fourth place in the Western Conference with five games left in the regular season… Luis Scola added 16 points, Ron Artest had 15 and Aaron Brooks added 14 for the Rockets. LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and nine rebounds, but was slowed significantly by the dogged defense of Chuck Hayes. Hayes was his constant pest when he was in the game, helping limit him to 7-of-15 shooting.
Aldridge pushes Blazers past Thunder 107-72
The AP reports: LaMarcus Aldridge had 35 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers added to their string of blowouts, routing Oklahoma City 107-72 on Friday night. The Blazers moved into position to clinch a playoff spot with a victory or a Phoenix loss. The Suns beat Sacramento on Friday night… Brandon Roy added 15 points, and Steve Blake had 14 points and 10 assists for Portland. Kevin Durant, another one of Barnes’ former pupils, led the Thunder with 13 points. Jeff Green scored 12 points, and Shaun Livingston made his Oklahoma City debut with 10 points off the bench.
Blazers rout Jazz in key Northwest matchup
The AP reports: Portland routed Utah 125-104 on Tuesday, winning its third consecutive game by at least 20 points. The Blazers (47-27) blitzed the Jazz with torrid shooting, hitting a season-high 61.6 percent (47-of-76) from the field… LaMarcus Aldridge hit 10 of 16 shots, while Brandon Roy made 10 of 14 shots and had 25 points and handed out a season-high 11 assists. Six Portland players scored in double figures… Carlos Boozer, who led the Jazz with 20 points, and Portland’s Joel Przybilla were ejected after receiving consecutive offsetting technical fouls in the third quarter. Two minutes later, Utah coach Jerry Sloan, outraged over a foul call, joined Boozer in the locker room after he was hit with a pair of technicals.
Roy leads Blazers past Grizzlies, 86-66
The AP reports: For the second straight game, the Portland Trail Blazers routed an opponent. LaMarcus Aldridge made the difference—again. Aldridge had 18 points and seven rebounds in Portland’s 86-66 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night. While Brandon Roy led the Blazers with 21 points and eight rebounds, Aldridge brought the intangibles. Coach Nate McMillan called it one of his best games of the year… Aldridge had 29 points and 12 rebounds in Portland’s 129-109 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night… O.J. Mayo had 12 points, while Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol each added 10 for the Grizzlies, who have lost 10 of their last 12 games. They were held to their lowest scoring output this season.
Aldridge leads Trail Blazers past Suns 129-109
The AP reports: LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-high 29 points and added 12 rebounds to help Portland snap the Phoenix Suns’ six-game winning streak with a 129-109 victory Thursday night. McMillan thinks that Aldridge, who is in his third season, is well on his way to consistent double-doubles. He leads the team with 18 this season. Portland led 100-79 after three quarters, following Rudy Fernandez’s jumper and buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 25 feet. The Suns sat their starters most of the rest of the way. Fernandez came off the bench to score 23 points. The rookie from Spain made a career-high five 3-pointers. Brandon Roy added 26 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who led by as many as 29 points.
NBA rule change on too many players on court
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.
Miller helps 76ers rally past Trail Blazers in OT
The AP reports: Andre Miller had 27 points and 10 rebounds and scored the go-ahead basket with 1:56 remaining in overtime as Philadelphia rallied for a 114-108 win over Portland on Monday night… Philadelphia relied on a three-man performance to pull out the win as Miller, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young combined to score 77 points. Iguodala and Young scored 25 points each. Young made 10 of 15 shots and scored 17 points during the second half and overtime… Philadelphia also shut down Portland’s Brandon Roy. The Sixers held the Blazers’ All-Star guard to 12 points, ending his personal streak of consecutive 20-point or more performances at 12… Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Steve Blake scored 22 points.
Roy leads Portland past Milwaukee, 96-84
The AP reports: The young Portland Trail Blazers are showing more proof of growing up. Brandon Roy had 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Trail Blazers to a 96-84 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. Steve Blake added 21 points and tied his season high with six 3-pointers as Portland, playing its fifth game in seven nights, came alive in the second half… ilwaukee opened the game with a 9-0 run capped by a dunk by Charlie Villanueva, who had 26 points.Outlaw, playing for the injured Nicolas Batum, scored 17 for Portland which has been out of the postseason since 2002-03.
James leads Cavaliers past Trail Blazers in OT
The AP reports: Despite getting his 24th career triple-double, LeBron James was more impressed by the Cleveland Cavaliers tying the NBA record for fewest turnovers. James had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Cavaliers to a 97-92 overtime victory against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night. Cleveland committed only two turnovers, setting a franchise record and matching the mark set by Milwaukee against Indiana on April 1, 2006… Ilgauskas finished with 21 points… James scored twice late in regulation to give Cleveland an 86-82 lead, but Brandon Roy, who led Portland with 24 points, hit four free throws in the final 34 seconds—the last two coming with 3.4 seconds left—to tie the game.