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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Damon Stoudamire made certain that the Portland Trail Blazers' home-court woes didn't return.
|  | | Portland's Jermaine O'Neal challenges Ervin Johnson. |
Stoudamire scored a season-high 31 points and tied a franchise
record with seven 3-pointers as the Portland Trail Blazers handed
the Milwaukee Bucks their worst loss of the season Saturday night,
113-79.
"I don't shoot a lot of 3s -- that's not my game," Stoudamire
said. "I like to get in the lane and play from 19, 20 feet on in.
I can shoot the 3, and tonight it was just falling more than
others."
Stoudamire scored 18 points in the first quarter and sank four
straight 3-pointers to help the Blazers pull away from a 6-6 tie
and quickly turn the game into a blowout.
The Blazers recently put an end to a four-game home losing
streak. Against the Bucks, they picked up their second win in three
nights -- and their first winning margin of 20 points or more since
a 95-75 win over Cleveland on Jan. 12.
"It was nice. We haven't blown anybody out in a long time,"
Stoudamire said. "To come out and play the way we played against a
team as potent as Milwaukee, it was a good effort and a good team
win."
Sam Cassell scored 22 to lead the Bucks, who had won two
straight for the first time since Jan. 29-31. Milwaukee fell 2½ games behind idle Orlando for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Portland's Scottie Pippen left the game late in the first quarter, complaining of blurred vision. He is expected to play
Sunday night against Seattle.
Milwaukee's previous worst loss this season was 103-72 at home
against Cleveland on March 12.
The 34-point margin was also the Bucks' largest at the hands of
the Blazers since March 5, 1978, when Portland won 126-88.
"When you give a team confidence early, they'll smoke you,"
said the Bucks' Ray Allen, who scored just 13 points on 4-of-13
shooting after averaging 31 points and 66 percent shooting his
previous four games.
The Blazers missed their first five shots, then hit nine in a
row. After Stoudamire's four straight long-range shots, Steve Smith
finished off the 18-4 burst with a turnaround 17-footer to make it
24-10 with 4:24 left in the period.
"The Blazers made a conscious effort to focus in on Ray and
Glenn (Robinson), and we can't be successful when they don't
score," Milwaukee coach George Karl said. "My team was surprised
at Portland's fast start. We didn't react, and we got
embarrassed."
Robinson finished with nine points on 4-of-12 shooting.
As a team, the Blazers hit nine 3-pointers, one short of their
season high at Washington last month.
The last Blazer to hit seven 3s in a game was Terry Porter, who
did it twice -- at Golden State in November 1992 and against Utah in
January 1993.
Both teams started the second quarter with reserves, but the
Blazers didn't lose a beat. A putback by Stacey Augmon pushed the
lead to 44-23 a little more than four minutes into the period.
Portland shot 59 percent in the half and led 65-38.
Stoudamire didn't let up in the third, sinking a 20-foot jumper
and another 3-pointer to make it 70-40. Stoudamire didn't play in
the fourth.
"We're on a little win streak," said Portland's Bonzi Wells,
who added 18 points. "Two in a row is big for us."
The Blazers are virtually locked into the No. 3 playoff spot in
the West. Milwaukee, meanwhile, is fighting to make the postseason.
The Bucks have 10 games left, with three against teams with
winning records -- the Magic twice and Charlotte.
Game notes
The Blazers, in the middle of a six-game homestand, are
15-3 on the second night of back-to-back games entering Sunday. ...
Portland, which shot 51 percent, is 23-2 when making at least half
its shots. ... Milwaukee is 18-10 against sub-.500 teams, but just
14-28 against teams above .500. ... Stoudamire holds the Toronto
Raptors' team record for 3-pointers in a game, too, having made seven
against Detroit on Dec. 30, 1997.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 109
Boston 103
Charlotte 90
Chicago 87
Houston 115
Atlanta 93
Denver 112
Utah 92
Portland 113
Milwaukee 79
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