Portland Trail Blazers beat New Orleans Hornets 103-96
LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 34 points as the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the New Orleans Hornets 103-96 at the Rose Garden on Wednesday night. The win meant that Portland stretched their winning streak to six games; their longest in 15 months.
The result also helped the Trail Blazers snap a run of three consecutive win against the Hornets.
Blazers coach Nate McMillan said after the game, "So we go into the (All-Star) break winning. The thing is to continue to win. You start watching the standings when you're losing. As long as you keep winning, you know that you're in good shape."
Aldridge played one of the best games of his career during the Trail Blazers’ longest winning streak of the 2010-11 season, averaging 31.2 points per game. Wesley Matthews played a stellar game for Portland as he came off the bench to score 24 points and
six rebounds in the home victory.
Andre Miller had 18 points while Nicolas Batum contributed 14 points for the Blazers, who are now 19-7 on the road during the current season. David West played well as he scored a team-high 27 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost
three straight games.
Willie Green came off the bench with 24 points and six rebounds for New Orleans, who have lost nine of their last 11 games. Forward Trevor Ariza had 16 points while Jarrett Jack added 12 points for the Hornets, who lost their 17th game of the
season on the road.
Match Analysis
Both teams started the game at a crisp pace and tied the game at 10-10 early in the contest. However, the Trail Blazers then went on a 13-6 run to take a 35-26 lead into the second.
Portland played sloppy basketball in the second quarter as they allowed the Hornets to get themselves back into the game. New Orleans got it going defensively halfway through the second and converted the nine-point opening quarter deficit into a 49-48 lead
at half time.
The Hornets came out strongly in the third quarter as they quickly opened up a six-point lead by the 10th minute. The Trail Blazers went on a couple of runs to get the lead back at 58-57, but failed to figure out a way to slow down the New Orleans
offence in the least. At the end of three quarters, Charlotte held a 76-70 lead.
The Blazers finally had a good defensive run in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to just four inside the opening three minutes. Ariza had a dunk and a lay-up shot to make it 82-78 for New Orleans with seven minutes remaining. Portland then went 9-of-10
from the foul line over the final 51.8 seconds to seal their 32nd victory of the season.
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