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 "But it was early," Portland guard Damian Lillard said. "It felt
like a game that could turn around."
It was. Lillard had 29 points with seven assists and forward
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the
Blazers rallied from the second-quarter deficit to win 102-100.
It was the fourth win in five games for the Trail Blazers (5-3), who
trailed 50-27 midway through the second period.
Charlotte (3-5) had a late chance to force overtime. Guard Gary
Neal's driving basket at the buzzer was initially ruled good, but
after review, the call was overturned.
"I didn't think it was (in time)," Portland coach Terry Stotts said,
"but replay can go either way."
Center Al Jefferson led the Hornets with 22 points while guard Lance
Stephenson contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Charlotte shot .561 from the field, making 4 of 6 attempts from
3-point range, in jumping to a 64-51 halftime lead. But the Hornets
scored only 36 second-half points, making only 12 of 34 shots from
the field.
 Portland outrebounded Charlotte 15-5 in the fourth quarter, grabbing
six off the offensive glass.
"They just kept getting them," Jefferson said. "They got a lot of
second-chance points down the stretch. We put ourselves in position
to win the game, but we have to make good plays at both ends of the
floor."
The Blazers whittled the margin from 23 early in the second quarter.
Jefferson had 12 points and Stephenson 11 points and eight rebounds
for the Hornets while Aldridge scored 13 points with six boards for
the Blazers at the break.
The Hornets' lead was 71-55 early in the third quarter when Portland
rallied with a 9-2 run to close the gap to 73-64. Charlotte answered
with an 8-0 spurt to increase the lead to 81-64 with three minutes
left in the quarter, but the Blazers closed out on an 11-4 spurt to
trail 85-75 heading into the final quarter.
Charlotte missed its first five shots of the fourth quarter as the
Blazers trimmed their deficit to 87-83 with 8:34 remaining.
Portland got within 87-85 on an Aldridge jumper with 5:02 left.
Charlotte's lead was 96-92 when the Blazers went on an 8-0 run.
Guard Steve Blake put them ahead for the first time at 97-96 on a
3-pointer with 3:03 to go. Soon it was 100-96, but Neal sank a pair
of free throws to make it 100-98 with 1:24 to play.
Portland guard Wesley Matthews missed a 3-point try, but knocked the
ball away from Stephenson at the other end, forcing a shot-clock
violation with 34.5 seconds to go.
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Blake missed a 3, but Aldridge scored on a rebound basket for a
102-98 advantage with 14.2 seconds remaining. Neal scored on a drive
to close it to 102-100 with 10.9 seconds on the clock.
Lillard missed on a drive, and the Hornets rebounded, calling
timeout with 3.5 seconds left.
Neal scored on a drive at the buzzer. The basket was initially ruled
good, but after review, the ruling was reversed and the Blazers
given the victory.
"I thought it was good," Neal said. "It was a bang-bang play, so
it's hard to say. I thought it was out of my hand, but they said it
wasn't, so it wasn't. It just was a 10th of a second too late."
Charlotte jumped to a 13-8 lead and increased it to 35-19 late in
the first quarter. The Hornets, who made 14 of 22 shots in the
quarter, took a 35-21 edge into the second period.
The Hornets kept up the pressure, jacking the margin to 50-27 with
7:17 left in the half. It was still 62-40 late in the second quarter
when the Blazers scored nine straight -- the last six on
back-to-back 3-pointers by Lillard -- to get within 62-49. The
margin was 64-51 at intermission.
NOTES: Portland F Nicolas Batum will miss at least the next three
games with a right knee contusion suffered in Sunday's win over
Denver. "I'm hoping to get back for the New Orleans game (next
Monday)," Batum said. ... second-year man Allen Crabbe, who played
four minutes in the Blazers' first seven games, started in Batum's
absence. He finished with two points on 1-for-4 shooting in 22
minutes. ... The Blazers have won nine of their last 11 meetings
with Charlotte. ... the Hornets' totals for the first quarter (35)
and first half (64) were the most scored by a Portland opponent in
any quarter or half this season.
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