LaMarcus Aldridge stars as Portland Trail Blazers overpower New Orleans Hornets 84-77 - NBA Recap
After an impressive 7-2 start to the 2011-12 season, Portland Trail Blazers lost their way a little tasting defeat three games in a row- the most recent one against the Houston Rockets, that was an overtime thriller.
However on Monday night, Blazers successfully ended their losing streak by edging past the New Orleans Hornets 84-77, improving their record to 8-5.
Trail Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge was phenomenal and led the team with a game high 22 points on 10 for 17 from the floor and grabbed 9 rebounds. He scored majority of his points in the second half, during a phase when both teams were nip and tuck.
"I just started trying to be more attack-minded, going to basket, more confident," Aldridge said. "I felt like I was kind of hesitant in the first half, kind of just out there, so I just wanted to be more aggressive going to the basket and try to make things
happen."
Other players supported Aldridge well too.
Reserve Nicolas Batum pounded 19 points on 5 for 6 from the charity stripe and 6 boards while Gerald Wallace had 14 points. Wesley Matthews (10) was the other prominent scorer for the side tonight.
Trail Blazers shot 47.2% from the floor in contrast to 41.8% from the Hornets and outmatched them in the dished out assists 25-16 as well.
Jarrett Jack led the Hornets with 21 points on 9 for 10 from the free throw line whereas Emeka Okafor and the reserve Chris Kaman bundled 12 apiece. No other player managed to produce a decent tally.
"We've all got to look in the mirror and see where we need to step up," Kaman said. We've been doing a good job defensively so that's all you can ask for. We've got to get better with our offense and do a better job taking care of the basketball."
Hornets fought gallantly in the first half and were only behind by 2 points 37-35 by the end.
It was the third frame that turned the game in favour of the Trail Blazers.
Portland started the frame with a fierce 17-4 run, capped by Matthews downtown strike to acquire a massive 15 point lead 54-39. Hornets responded well in the next few minutes but still failed to eliminate the deficit and by the end of third frame, found
themselves trailing behind 13 points 64-51.
Nothing changed in the deciding quarter as Hornets failed to score at the start. Fate of the game had already been decided midway through the frame. All Hornets managed to do was to lessen the margin of the defeat by scoring quickly down the stretch.
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