Portland Trail Blazers defeat Toronto Raptors 102-96
LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 37 points and added 10 rebounds as the Blazers beat the Toronto Raptors 102-96 at the Air Canada Centre on Friday night.
Many of Aldridge's points came off passes or lobs from Rudy Fernandez, who also had a big game, scoring 23 points off the bench to go with three assists and a single rebound.
Jerryd Bayless said that besides injuries and being a hard luck franchise, Portland were lucky to have an All-Star like Aldridge. He said, "He is a special player. I tell everyone that I think he is the most underrated player in the league. I think the sky
is the limit for him. I think he was snubbed for the All-Star game, no question about it. He's playing unbelievable."
Andre Miller played a simple but effective game, as he scored 13 points and added eight assists in Portland's third consecutive victory. Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 29 points in their third straight loss of the 2010-11 season.
DeMar DeRozan had 17 points while Jose Calderon contributed 10 assists for Toronto, who lost their 17th home game.
Match Analysis
The Blazers shot better than 50 percent from the field (51 percent), just as they did when they beat the Chicago Bulls at the Rose Garden 109-103 on Monday night.
Sparked by Aldridge’s eight points, the Trail Blazers led by as many as seven points early on and carried a 23-19 lead into the second quarter. The Blazers extended their offensive play to the second quarter, getting a nice lift from Rudy Fernandez as he
made all six shots in the second. In addition, he had four more from the three-point range, scoring 17 in the quarter.
The Raptors struggled to cut the deficit but went on a 14-7 run to make the score a respectable one. However, the Blazers managed to take a 55-47 advantage into the locker room.
The Raptors played the third quarter defensively as they went on an 11-2 run, capped by five points from Bargnani. The Raptors resilience paid off as they successfully converted an eight-point deficit into a 72-70 lead after three quarters.
The Raptors came out strongly in the fourth quarter with a 15-6 run to extend their lead to 79-85 with six minutes remaining in the contest. The Blazers then managed to take charge as they got a key three-pointer from Nicolas Batum and finally a steal that
tied the game at 87-87.
Bargnani then broke the deadlock as he scored a basket to give Toronto a two-point advantage (89-87). However, Matthews and Aldridge had two free throws apiece to seal Portland's 11th victory on the road.
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