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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers made things
look so easy against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, the
game resembled a layup drill.
Bonzi Wells scored a season-high 27 points as the Trail Blazers
turned the game into a fast-break clinic and beat the Pacers
102-86.
|  | | Bonzi Wells, right, and the Blazers mad the most of their easy chances against Indiana. |
"Basically they were shooting layups," Indiana's Jalen Rose
said. "Teams get confident when they can run out on you and get
easy layups. It energizes the crowd, and it energizes the team.
They did a good job of taking advantage of that."
Scottie Pippen added a season-high 24 points and tied his
season-high with nine assists for Portland, which won its sixth
straight.
Rose scored 16 points and Reggie Miller added 13 for the Pacers,
who trailed by 17 after three quarters and never got close in the
final period. Rose shot 1-for-8 in the second half.
"We've got so many guys we should be running," Wells said.
"We should run and try to make guys' tongues hang out by the time
the fourth quarter comes."
Portland did just that, putting the game away in the third after
Indiana got as close as 57-54 on Jermaine O'Neal's dunk with 5:07
left in the period.
"We lost concentration," Indiana coach Isiah Thomas said.
"They were able to get in transition. (Damon) Stoudamire was
pushing it, Bonzi Wells got behind our defense a couple times and
they were able to get some easy scores."
The Blazers went on a 14-0 run, picking off passes and blocking
shots while coasting in for fast-break layups and dunks.
"I'm the type of guy who likes to stay around the basket and
try to get easy buckets," Wells said, "and today I just got a lot
of easy buckets. I kept running and Damon and Scottie just found me
and I finished."
The Pacers missed shot after shot, including back-to-back layups
by Rose and Austin Croshere, while the Blazers padded their lead.
Wells added a layup, Rasheed Wallace hit a jumper, Pippen hit a
layup and Damon Stoudamire put Portland up 69-54 with a jump shot
that triggered an Indiana timeout with 2:12 left.
"We were fighting and scratching for every basket," Rose said,
"and it's tough to come back when a team is running like that."
The Pacers didn't come back, and the Blazers capped the drive
with a fast-break alley-oop as Pippen threw a bullet from the
3-point line to Wells, who dunked for a 71-54 lead.
Wells finished the quarter with a fast-break dunk over 7-footer
Zan Tabak that put Portland up 75-58.
"He beat our entire five back a couple times," said O'Neal,
Wells' teammate for two seasons in Portland. "He played the floor
real well."
The Pacers stayed with the Blazers for most of the first
quarter, but Portland simply outplayed the defending Eastern
Conference champions down the stretch.
The Pacers pulled within 18-16 when Miller hit a technical after
Portland was whistled for its second illegal defense of the period.
But Wells had a pair of dunks with less than two minutes to play,
one off his own steal of Jonathan Bender's pass and another from
Pippen's steal of a pass by Miller to put Portland up 22-16.
Indiana went on a 13-5 run to take a two-point lead, but
Portland brought its starting lineup back out late in the second
quarter and used a 12-4 run to take a 45-40 halftime lead.
"Some of our passes were really right on the money, and gave us
a chance to finish in stride and do some of the things we have been
working on," said Portland coach Mike Dunleavy, who has started
Wells in front of Steve Smith the past three games. "At this
point, we are working our lineup. There is no master plan."
Game notes
Wells, who scored a career-high 29 points against Indiana
last season, started his third straight game. ... The Pacers lost
five of their last seven games. ... Indiana won both contests
against the Blazers last season, and have taken five of the last
six at home. ... Portland outscored Indiana 23-12 on fast-break
points, including 21-6 through three quarters.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 100
Boston 91
Philadelphia 98
Atlanta 80
Detroit 107
Dallas 104
Milwaukee 88
Cleveland 83
Phoenix 90
LA Clippers 85
Portland 102
Indiana 86
Vancouver 99
Charlotte 89
Denver 111
Golden State 100
LA Lakers 82
Utah 71
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Reggie Miller Official Site
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
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