|
 "Memphis isn't the prettiest team in the league, but (the
Grizzlies) just grind it out," Portland center Robin Lopez said
after the Trail Blazers' 88-82 victory over Indiana Thursday night
at the Moda Center. "That's what we did tonight. We can do it both
ways."
Guard Damian Lillard scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds
while forward LaMarcus Aldridge collected 18 points and 13 rebounds
for Trail Blazers (15-4), who won for the 12th time in the last 13
outings.
Guard Rodney Stuckey had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists
for the Pacers (7-12), who lost their third straight game.
It was a night when neither team shot as high as 40 percent for the
game -- Portland finished at .398, Indiana at .396. The Blazers won
the game at the free-throw line, making 18 of 23 attempts to only 5
of 8 for the Pacers, and with defense. "I was pleased with the way we continued to defend throughout the
game," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "We won it with our defense
tonight, and we stayed with it for the whole game."
 After yielding 38 fast-break points in a 116-99 loss at Phoenix on
Tuesday night, the Pacers gave up half as many to the Blazers.
"We grew at the defensive end," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "We
didn't want to get into a shooting match with (the Blazers), so
controlling the pace was part of the plan."
Neither team could get anything going offensively early. It was
10-10 midway through the first quarter until the Blazers -- who were
6-for-24 from the field through the first 12 minutes -- muscled up
enough offense to take a 16-14 lead into the second quarter.
Portland's lead was 32-24 when Indiana rattled off seven straight to
close to within 32-31. The Blazers, despite shooting .366 in the
half, took a 38-33 edge into intermission. Indiana was even worse,
connecting at a .357 clip with 13 turnovers.
The Blazers took the advantage to 42-33 early in the third quarter,
but the Pacers again scored seven in a row to make it 42-40.
Indiana was still down only 46-44 when Portland went on an 8-0 run
to go in front 54-44. The Pacers scored the next seven to trim the
margin to 54-51. The Blazers led 62-59 heading into the fourth
quarter.
[to top of second column] |
Pacers forward Luis Scola's scoop shot tied the count at 66-66 early
in the final period. Portland scored 11 straight to jump on top
77-66 with 5:30 to play. It was 82-73 when the Pacers made a final
push. Stuckey hit two free throws to close the gap to 82-78 with
1:21 remaining, then got the visitors to within 83-80 on a driving
layup with 53.9 seconds to play. The Blazers salted the game away at
the line from there.
"There are going to be plenty of ugly games," said Portland guard
Wesley Matthews, who scored 12 points. "Good teams find a way to
win. (The Pacers) mucked it up, made it ugly. We helped out by not
making our shots. But we're happy with how we played defensively.
Our help (defense) was probably as good as it's been all season."
NOTES: Portland begins a five-game road trip Sunday at New York. ...
Indiana concludes a four-game road trip Friday at Sacramento. ... It
was the eighth time this season Portland has held an opponent under
90 points. The Blazers did it seven times through all of last
season. ... Portland is 8-0 against Eastern Conference foes and 10-2
at the Moda Center, the most home wins by any NBA team. ... Portland
F LaMarcus Aldridge moved past Mychal Thompson into third place on
the franchise rebound list with 4,885. ... Aldridge went 2-for-2
from 3-point range and is now 10-for-19 (.526) this season. ... The
Pacers brought F Paul George and G George Hill -- who both have
missed the entire season with injuries -- on this four-game road
trip that ends Friday night at Sacramento. Hill (knee) will start
non-contact workouts next week and could be back in two weeks.
George (leg) is likely lost for the year, but "is increasing his
rehabilitation, and we wanted him with us," Vogel said.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
