PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Zach Randolph had 13 points and 16
rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers edged the Toronto Raptors
97-95 in a preseason game Wednesday night.
Damon Stoudamire's 3-pointer gave the Blazers a 79-77 lead as
time wound down in the third quarter, and Portland didn't trail
again until Morris Peterson's layup with 43.8 seconds left in the
game gave Toronto a 95-94 lead.
Darius Miles, who led Portland with 23 points, hit a pair of
free throws to put the Blazers in front 96-95. But he missed his
next two before Randolph made just one of two attempts with 20
seconds to go.
It was enough, because the Blazers thwarted Rafer Alston's final
shot as time ran out.
Peterson had 25 points for the Raptors, coming off a 102-89
preseason loss at Denver on Tuesday night.
The Blazers led by as many as nine points in the first half but
fell behind 48-47 on Alston's layup 8.6 seconds before the break.
Ruben Patterson, who has grumbled about playing time in the
preseason, came back with his own layup to make it 49-48.
The biggest cheers of the night came when the final out of
Boston's World Series victory showed on the video scoreboard above
the court. The public address announcer proclaimed: "The curse it
over!"
The Blazers were without starting guard Derek Anderson, who had
back trouble, and forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, nursing a sore knee.
Nick Van Exel had the night off as he continues to recover from
offseason knee surgery.
The Blazers have one more preseason game, Friday in Seattle,
before opening the regular season on the road against the Golden
State Warriors next Wednesday.
The Raptors were without Vince Carter, who was in federal court
in Columbia, S.C., to deal with a lawsuit filed by his former
agent.
The trial opened Wednesday is expected to last two days. Carter
also missed Tuesday night's exhibition game in Denver, but was
expected to rejoin the Raptors for their final preseason game
Friday against Cleveland.
The Raptors also didn't have Jerome Moiso, who had a left
hamstring strain, and Alvin Williams, who didn't dress because of a
sore right knee.
Toronto opens the regular season next Wednesday at home against
Houston.