Portland Trail Blazers defeat Los Angeles Clippers 105 – 97 – NBA Recap
The Portland Trail Blazers recorded an important win over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Rose Garden 105 – 97. The Clippers have been flying high in the current NBA season after acquiring some major stars during the offseason but were cut down to size by
a hardworking and determined Trail Blazers outfit.
All of Portland’s starters turned in more than decent performances to help quell the flashy Clippers. Centre Marcus Camby had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Forward Gerald Wallace was very impressive with his 20 points, 4 assists and 4 boards.
Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 7 rebounds to his name, Wesley Matthews also had 18 points and point guard Raymond Felton registered 17 along with 8 assists.
Gerald Wallace remarked after the game that the Clippers were a tough opponent to come up against but the Trail Blazers had an earlier defeat on their mind which provided some extra motivation for the win.
"It was a tough game between two pretty good teams. We were more mentally ready than they were. We felt we let the game in L.A. get away, so we wanted to jump on them from the start, to take them out of their comfort zone on offense."
Portland guard Felton, who had performed well overall, said after the game that he still made some errors and he will be looking to iron them out soon.
"I made good plays and bad plays, and I also hit free throws down the stretch. it happens. I'm not perfect. Try to be, but I'm not."
Sensational young forward Blake Griffin was the most impressive for Los Angeles with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Caron Butler top scored with 20 and had 6 rebounds. Veteran point guard Chauncey Billups played well for his 19 points but star guard Chris Paul
was off song, scoring just 11 with 3 assists.
Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro accepted that his team weren’t up for the task and never really found their groove out on the court.
"We could never quite get over the hump. We would cut (the Blazers' lead) back, and then we would miss a couple of free throws or we'd turn it over, and they'd get an easy one or a tip-in."
Portland were quicker off the mark, going up 12 – 5 inside the first four minutes. They maintained a healthy advantage for most of the quarter before Los Angeles made a furious rally late on, going 13 – 4 to finish ahead at 26 – 24.
The Trail Blazers though weren’t going to be outperformed in front of their home support and sent a message with a 10 – 2 start to the second period, wrestling back the lead and the momentum from Los Angeles. The Clippers clawed down the lead only to see
a 6 – 0 burst from Portland ruin their good work. When the half ended, Trail Blazers were up at 54 – 47.
After the interval things didn’t change too much as the Clippers weren’t able to make a serious dent on Portland. Both sides scored 24 points in the 3rd quarter, meaning that the Trail Blazers lead was preserved going into the final period.
Los Angeles got to within two points after a Chauncey Billups 3-pointer, 7:15 remaining on the clock. The Trail Blazers responded with a 7 – 0 burst, stretching the lead to 9 points. The Clippers never threatened afterwards and the home team was able to
see the game out at 105 – 97.
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