A burst of energy off the bench helped the Portland Trail Blazers run away from the Toronto Raptors.
Andre Miller had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, Brandon Roy scored 20 points, and the Trail Blazers beat the Raptors 101-87 on Wednesday night.
“We tried different guys on (Miller and Roy), we tried different looks and we couldn’t stop them,” Toronto coach Jay Triano said. “They were better than us tonight.”
Rudy Fernandez scored 17 points, Jerryd Bayless had 11 and Juwan Howard 10 for the Trail Blazers, who won for the second time in two days on a five-game trip that will also take them to Chicago, Minnesota and Memphis.
“It was an all around effort,” Roy said. “We had guys step up. LaMarcus played a lot of minutes last night and it was key tonight that Jerryd came in and gave us some energy. If (Bayless and Fernandez) play like that, they’ll make my job a lot easier.”
Portland had lost 10 of 17 before heading out on this trip, and coach Nate McMillan likes the way it has started.
“We showed that we’re hungry and that we’re not going to let this season slip away,” McMillan said. “I like the fight that we’ve had in these last two games.”
Hedo Turkoglu scored 24 points, Jarrett Jack had 18 and Andrea Bargnani added 15 as the Raptors failed to top 100 points, ending a 20-game streak that began Jan. 6 at Orlando. Toronto went 14-6 in that span.
“It was important to run them off the three-point line and take away their easy baskets,” Roy said. “We just wanted to make them score over top of a hand each possession and we did a good job of that.”
Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Atlanta 98 Minnesota 92; Memphis 99 Wizards 94; Orlando 110 Houston 92; Milwaukee 115 New Orleans 95; San Antonio 95 Oklahoma City 87; Chicago 120 Indiana 110; Phoenix 106 Philadelphia 95; Utah 102 Charlotte 93; Dallas 101 L.A. Lakers 96; and L.A. Clippers 97 Detroit 91.
At Toronto, Amir Johnson had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors.
Portland came in last in the NBA in fast break points, averaging less than nine per game, but scored 20 against Toronto.
“They had too many easy points,” Turkoglu said.
For Miller, it was his second straight game without a turnover.
“Every team worries about turnovers but this team stresses it more than some others,” Miller said. “I’ve kind of put an emphasis on that in my game, making simple passes and not a lot of high-risk passes like I normally do.”
Both teams were missing starters. Toronto’s Chris Bosh sat out for the third straight game with a sprained left ankle and was replaced by Rasho Nesterovic. Howard started for Portland in place of Marcus Camby, who left Tuesday’s win at New Jersey with a sprained right ankle.
Turkoglu had seven quick points but picked up his third foul just over three minutes in and headed to the bench. The offence stalled without him, and six Toronto turnovers and eight points from Roy helped Portland take a 32-24 lead after one.
Toronto called timeout after Roy’s corner three made it 51-34 with 3:33 left in the second, but closed the half on a 13-4 run, capped by a three from Turkoglu, to make it 53-47 at the break.
“We didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball early and it helped them establish the lead they had at halftime,” Jack said. “It’s tough to recover when you give the other team extra possession.”
Miller scored six points in the third and Bayless and Fernandez each added five as Portland overcame nine points from Jack to pull away again, taking a 78-68 lead into the fourth.
With the game going at the same time as Canada’s Olympic hockey showdown against Russia, the announced crowd was 16,161 at Air Canada Centre, but there were empty seats in every section. Many watched the hockey live in stadium bars, restaurants and suites, and there were noticeable cheers each time Canada scored and some boos after Russian goals. The screens on the main scoreboard switched to hockey after the basketball game finished.
“I didn’t hear (the cheers) but I knew that Canada was playing Russia and I saw that it was at our game time so I was happy about that,” McMillan said, smiling. “I looked at the stands when we first came in and said they may have a lot of no-shows. I thought they scheduled it for the right time.”
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Hawks 98 Timberwolves 92
At Atlanta, Josh Smith scored a season-high 27 points, Joe Johnson added 21 and the Hawks beat Minnesota.
Al Horford finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks, who have won nine of 11 at home to improve to 22-6 at Philips Arena.
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Grizzlies 99 Wizards 94
At Washington, Zach Randolph had 22 points, and Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol each added 20 to help Memphis run its road winning streak to three.
Gasol made his first 10 shots and finished 10-of-11 from the field.
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Magic 110 Rockets 92
At Houston, Dwight Howard was 11-for-11 from the field and had 30 points and 16 rebounds to help Orlando beat the Rockets.
Howard scored all of his points in the last three quarters after sitting out all but 22 seconds of the first period after committing two quick fouls.
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Bucks 115 Hornets 95
At Milwaukee, Andrew Bogut had 26 points and 13 rebounds to continue his string of dominant performances for the Bucks.
Fresh off a 24-point, 20-rebound performance in a rout of the Knicks on Monday night, Bogut had his fourth straight double-double in Milwaukee’s fourth straight win.
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Spurs 95 Thunder 87
At San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and made a spectacular block on Kevin Durant’s would-be dunk late in the fourth quarter, leading the Spurs.
Ginobili’s crucial block in the final minutes helped stop Durant’s streak of scoring 25 points or more at 29 games. Durant had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
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Bulls 120 Pacers 110
At Chicago, Luol Deng scored a season-high 31 points, and the Bulls beat Indiana after blowing an early 23-point lead.
Derrick Rose added 23 points, eight assists and nine rebounds to help the Bulls win for the seventh time in nine games.
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Suns 106 76ers 95
At Phoenix, Jason Richardson scored 24 points, and Victoria’s Steve Nash had 20 points and 13 assists in his return to the Suns lineup after missing a game to rest injuries to his back and abdomen.
Amare Stoudemire added 22 points for the Suns, who have won four straight and 10 of 12 and to move 13 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2007-08 season.
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Jazz 102 Bobcats 93
At Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer scored 20 of his 33 points in the second half, and Deron Williams added 20 points and 12 assists for Utah.
Utah has won 14 of its last 16 games to move within a half-game of Northwest Division-leading Denver. The Jazz are 23-8 at home.
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Mavericks 101 Lakers 96
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, Jason Terry added 30 and the short-handed Mavericks won their fifth straight game, beating Los Angeles.
Dallas’ Caron Butler, a key part of a seven-player trade with Washington on Feb. 13, missed the game because of a negative reaction to medication.
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Clippers 97 Pistons 91
At Los Angeles, Chris Kaman had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Drew Gooden added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers.
Rasual Butler hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 25 seconds left for the Clippers, who have won three straight following a six-game losing streak.
