LaMarcus Aldridge continues to shine as Portland Trail Blazers knock down the Chicago Bulls 109-103
On Monday night, LaMarcus Aldridge played one of his finest games of the entire season. The veteran forward scored a career-high 42 points and added eight rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers cooled off the Chicago Bulls 109-103
at Rose Garden.
Andre Miller also carried the attack for Portland, finishing with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Rudy Fernandez scored 18 points while forward Nicolas Batum had 12 points for the Blazers, who are now 28-24 during the 2010-11 season.
Derrick Rose scored a team-high 36 points and six assists for the Bulls, who have now dropped to 11-12 on the road. Carlos Boozer also fought hard and contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago. The Bulls have now lost 11
of their last 13 encounters at the Rose Garden. Forward Luol Deng also posted 15 points while Kyle Korver finished with 14 points for the Bulls, who lost their four straight contests.
Game Story
The Blazers entered the home court and shot 11-for-14 (78.6 percent) from the field in the opening quarter to take a 28-26 lead.
The Bulls began the second quarter with a 9-0 run and coverted the two-point deficit into a 35-28 lead at 09:23 mark. The Trail Blazer however responded back and took the charge with a 44-43 advantage on Rudy Fernandez’s pair of
free throws. The game was tied at 50-50 at halftime.
The Blazers opened the third quarter with a 15-6 run and went up by 63-56 with just five minutes remaining in the quarter. Paced by 16 points from Aldridge, the Blazers took a 72-75 advantage into the final stanza.
Fernandez nailed a 3-pointer early in the fourth to make it 80-74 for the Blazers. The Bulls fought hard and pulled within three points with three minutes to go. However, Aldridge's alley-oop dunk put the Blazers ahead by 98-91
with 2:17 left and the Bulls never got close after that.
Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau was frustrated by his team’s effort , “Every aspect of the defense was missing,” “This is two games in a row where we put ourselves in a bad position because we were not guarding. Aldridge basically
got whatever he wanted. We were not able to take anything away from them, so it was an easy game for them offensively.
Although, Aldridge added yet another silver lining to his stellar season, he still missed out on All-Star game on February 20, 2011.
Disappointed at the snub, Aldridge said, "Me getting 42 tonight isn't going to change their mind, so what is it going to do for me? I thought tonight I just came out and got those easy dunks early and that was my big thing that
got me going."
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