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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers
are struggling and don't have much time to turn things around
before the playoffs.
|  | | Rasheed Wallace tracks down the loose ball, but the Blazers couldn't track down a victory. |
Michael Dickerson scored 27 points as the Vancouver Grizzlies handed Portland its second straight loss, and fifth in 10 games,
89-87 Thursday night.
"As a team, we are in the worst situation you can be in,"
Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We have to play harder and we
have to play with more of a purpose."
Rasheed Wallace hit 13 of 20 shots, finishing with 28 points and eight rebounds, but Steve Smith was the only other Blazer in double figures, with 14 points.
"That was just a typical Blazer game over the last month,"
said Portland point guard Damon Stoudamire, who scored only seven
points with six assists in 31 minutes.
The Trail Blazers had a chance to match the team's record for
road wins in a season, but instead lost to one of the NBA's lesser
teams for the second straight night. Portland fell to Houston
118-105 on Wednesday.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 18 points and nine rebounds for Vancouver, which set a franchise record for season victories by
beating Houston 102-100 for No. 20 on Tuesday. It was just the
third win in 19 games for Vancouver.
Othella Harrington scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Mike Bibby had 15 points and nine assists for the Grizzlies, who joined the league in 1995.
"It was an unbelievable win at this stage of the season," said
Vancouver coach Lionel Hollins, who was awarded a pay raise
Thursday after coaching since December on his assistant's salary.
"They had a humiliating loss last night at home and were coming
up here to redeem themselves. I thought it was an unbelievable win
for our guys."
Vancouver led by as many as 20 points late in the second
quarter, but let most of that evaporate, and Portland pulled within
84-80 with 5:34 left in the game on Smith's two free throws.
The Grizzlies led 88-84 with 2:29 remaining, but neither team
scored again until an Abdur-Rahim free throw with 9.2 seconds left
put Vancouver ahead by five.
Detlef Schrempf's three-point play with 1.2 seconds remaining made it 89-87, and Portland got the ball back, but failed to get a
shot off before the buzzer.
The Grizzlies went 7-for-9 on 3-point attempts in the first
half, with Dickerson making four of his five long-range shots.
Dunleavy was impressed.
"You can shoot those all by yourself and not make seven out of
nine," he said. "They have guys who can make shots and they did a
good job of it."
The Trail Blazers went 4-of-16 from behind the 3-point line.
Dickerson played 46 minutes and was 10 of 18 from the floor.
"He was awesome," Hollins said. "That's the one word:
awesome. He made some big shots and some big plays. He got us
rolling. They couldn't guard him. He was also shooting the ball
extremely well."
Vancouver raced out to an early lead, shooting 65 percent in the
first quarter to go up 32-18.
The Grizzlies expanded their lead in the second quarter before a
late 6-1 Portland run made it 56-41 Vancouver at the half.
The Grizzlies were a sizzling 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the
half, with Dickerson going 4-of-5.
Game notes
Wallace added to his league-record technical foul total
when he was whistled for his 35th of the season in the second quarter. The Blazers lead the league with 82 technicals. ... The Grizzlies got their first franchise win against the Trail Blazers in their first game in the NBA. Since that game, Portland has won 13 of 17 against Vancouver. The Blazers had won the last five in a row between the teams. ... They play each other again Saturday in Portland.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
Hollins agrees to cash settlement for coaching Grizzlies
RECAPS
Miami 76
Charlotte 70
New York 101
Washington 92
Chicago 90
Milwaukee 88
Dallas 116
Denver 115
Utah 105
Phoenix 85
Vancouver 89
Portland 87
Minnesota 112
LA Clippers 90
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