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Tuesday, Mar. 14 10:30pm ET
Blazers beat Kings for 10th straight time | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers seem to stumble again and again against Sacramento, but they seldom fall flat. Arvydas Sabonis had 20 points and 16 rebounds as the Trail Blazers, despite going scoreless for the first 5:13 of the fourth quarter, beat the Kings for the 10th straight time, 96-91 on Tuesday night.
"It was not a good game for us, but we did what it took to win. Again," said Scottie Pippen, who had 10 of Portland's season-high 59 rebounds. "We're not taking teams out like we should, but we're getting wins again." The Blazers committed 19 turnovers, including three in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Kings came back to take a 75-74 lead. Detlef Schrempf put the Blazers ahead to stay by hitting a 3-pointer with 6:47 to go. Rasheed Wallace added 19 points, Schrempf had 16 and Damon Stoudamire 14 for the Blazers, who won their third in a row after dropping four of five. The Blazers closed within four games of the Los Angeles Lakers for the best record in the NBA. "We've just got to show some improvement while we keep winning," Schrempf said. "I'm a little encouraged, but we've got a long way to go." Sabonis had four rebounds in the first 2½ minutes, and after resting in the second quarter was ready for the final stretch. In the fourth period, the 7-foot-3 Lithuanian had six points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in eight minutes. "Sabas has been playing great," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Earlier this year, some media types said we should ship him back to where he came from. But we have brought him along, and when we've needed him to step up, he's been there for us." Chris Webber had 21 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 15.5 seconds left, and Predrag Stojakovic had 22 points to lead the Kings. "To beat these guys, there are areas where we've got to get better," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "Rebounding is one of them." Portland led 74-68 to start the fourth quarter but couldn't find the basket. A free throw by Vlade Divac gave the Kings a 75-74 lead with 8:05 to play before Schrempf hit his 3-pointer. Sabonis had three big defensive rebounds in the next few minutes, and his 23-foot jumper made it 88-81. Two free throws by Jon Barry pulled the Kings to 90-87 with 48 seconds left, but they couldn't get closer. Portland outrebounded the Kings 34-20 in the second half and 59-37 for the game. "In a close game like this, you can't get beat on the boards like we did," Webber said. "(Sabonis) is like 7 feet, 10 inches. I would have loved to see him when he was younger." In a wild third quarter, the Kings tied the game at 55, went down by nine and then pulled close again as the Blazers picked up three technical fouls -- one each on Sabonis and Wallace and another on coach Mike Dunleavy. It was a good thing Dunleavy was not asked by TNT to wear a microphone. When Steve Smith failed to get the ball down low to Sabonis and instead launched an airball, Dunleavy cursed and kicked the scorer's table. Seconds later, Barry drove for an easy layup to pull Sacramento within 68-66. Jason Williams hit his first basket of the game, a 19-footer, to open the fourth and cut the lead to 74-70. But the Kings could get only a hook by Webber and three free throws in the next 6:37, and Portland surged back ahead. Williams was badly outplayed by Stoudamire, who hit three long jumpers, including a 3-pointer, early on to put the Blazers ahead 15-12. Williams finished with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, including 0-for-4 from 3-point range.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Sacramento Clubhouse Portland Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 85 Golden State 78
Portland 96
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