April 8, 2008
Though the Trail Blazers are out of the playoffs, that doesn't mean they're going quietly.
With the crowd at the Rose Garden chanting "Beat L.A!'' Portland held off the Los Angeles Lakers 112-103 on Tuesday night.
Brandon Roy scored 23 points and matched his career high with 12 assists for Portland, which snapped a five-game losing streak. LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Channing Frye, starting in place of injured center Joel Przybilla, had a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.
"Coach said, 'Go out and play with attitude and try to mess with some things in the West,' and we did that tonight,'' Roy said.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the playoff-bound Lakers, fighting to finish atop the Pacific Division. They need three wins -- or three Phoenix losses -- to take the division for the first time since 2004. The Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies 127-113 earlier Tuesday night.
The Blazers led by as many as 18 points in the second half.
The Lakers pulled to 102-93 with 3:39 to go on Vladimir Radmanovic's 3-pointer. Free throws from Sasha Vujacic and Pau Gasol narrowed it to 102-96.
After Travis Outlaw made a layup for Portland, Radmanovic hit a 3-pointer to make it 104-99.
Kobe Bryant's layup got the Lakers within three points, but Roy answered with his own layup and free throw with 44 seconds left to keep Portland ahead 106-101.
Gasol hit a pair of free throws, but the Lakers could not catch up.
Bryant finished with 34 points, while Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds. It was the Lakers' sixth straight loss at the Rose Garden.
"They looked like they were the team that was preparing for the race in the West, and we looked like the team that was preparing for the long vacation,'' Lakers forward Lamar Odom said.
Odom was called for a technical foul in the contentious game after his hard hit on Roy as he was driving to the basket with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
Roy went down and winced in pain as the teams started jawing at each other. Blazers coach Nate McMillan rushed on to the court to help Roy, while Bryant argued the call.
Roy made both technical shots, giving the Blazers an 87-71 lead, then left to the locker room. He returned with about 10 minutes left in the game.
"My hip is pretty sore but we have two days off to rest it,'' Roy said. "But it was a painful fall. It was a long way down.''
The Blazers were still without starter Martell Webster, who was examined for an irregular heartbeat after he was briefly hospitalized with dizziness and flu-like symptoms last week.
Portland was coming off a 72-65 loss to San Antonio on Sunday. Przybilla broke his hand on the rim during the game, and he was replaced in the starting lineup against the Lakers by Frye.
Eliminated from the playoffs, the Blazers were still trying to finish with a winning record for the first times since the 2002-03 season.
The Blazers led all the first half, going up 49-40 on Aldridge's jumper from the corner with 2:23 to go. Portland extended it to 56-45 on Jarrett Jack's two free throws with 42 seconds left.
The Blazers led 58-47 at the half.
Portland went up 77-61 in the third quarter on Steve Blake's 3-pointer. But the Lakers answered with a 10-0 run orchestrated by Bryant that closed Los Angeles to 77-71.
The Lakers, coming off a 114-92 victory in Sacramento, were without Luke Walton, who missed his second straight game for the Lakers because of a strained right hamstring.
"I don't think this game is that detrimental. In the playoffs, you're going to be playing against top teams anyway, so it doesn't really matter,'' Bryant said. "We just don't like losing.''
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Kobe Bryant 34 points game 2 vs Utah Jazz 2008 NBA Playoffsby thekobebryantblitz15,413 views
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