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Wednesday, Feb. 16 10:00pm ET
Sabonis again bails out sluggish Blazers | |||||
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers bring out the best in the lowly Golden State Warriors. Arvydas Sabonis scored 20 points and Scottie Pippen hit a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left as the Trail Blazers beat the Warriors 99-95 on Wednesday night. "Believe it or not, these guys play us just about as good as anyone in the league the past couple of years," Damon Stoudamire said. "They got a lot of big, physical players." Golden State's Donyell Marshall hit two free throws with 54 seconds left to put the Warriors ahead 93-92, but Pippen followed with his 3-pointer and Stoudamire made four free throws as the Blazers beat the Warriors for the second straight night. "Playing a team on a back-to-back is always difficult," Stoudamire said. "The second night is always scary." The Trail Blazers, who beat the Warriors 92-83 on Tuesday night in Oakland, improved their NBA-best record to 40-11 with their sixth straight victory. Stoudamire finished with 19 points, and Pippen had 16. Mookie Blaylock had 22 points for Golden State, which has lost five in a row to drop to 12-37. The Warriors were without John Starks, who was traded to Chicago on Wednesday as part of a three-team deal that sent Larry Hughes and Billy Owens to Golden State. "Them not having Starks gave them a different look and you didn't know who was going to step up for them," Pippen said. "We played poorly. We didn't handle the ball well and missed some easy shots in the first half that gave them some confidence and hope." Portland overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter, tying it at 86 with 4:21 left when Pippen drove the lane and found Rasheed Wallace on an alley-oop. Stoudamire put Portland ahead 89-86 with a 3-pointer with 3:24 left, and the Blazers went up 92-86 on Sabonis' hook shot and Stoudamire's free throw. But Golden State scored seven straight points to take a 93-92 lead. "We played them back-to-back, and we gave them all they wanted," Golden State coach Garry St. Jean said. "It was a tough loss." Portland opened the third quarter with a 16-5 run to take a 61-49 lead on Steve Smith's 3-pointer with 6:13 left. The Warriors rallied with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to six at 75-69. Golden State started the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run, taking the lead when Vonteego Cummings hit a jumper and was fouled with 8:40 to go. "They're one of the top three teams in the NBA, and to play them back-to-back, that's just tough," said Marshall, who finished with 18 points. "When we were up seven or eight, we just stopped doing the things we were doing when we got the lead." Game notesGolden State had 30 turnovers to Portland's 26. ... Wednesday's trade, which sent Toni Kukoc from Chicago to Philadelphia, was one St. Jean was happy with. "We feel like it's a major move forward for the franchise," he said. "We feel terrific about the potential of Larry Hughes." ... Sabonis also had 11 rebounds, giving him his second-straight double-double. ... Antawn Jamison strained his left knee and did not travel to Portland with the Warriors. ... The Trail Blazers last scheduled game against the Warriors is March 24 at Golden State. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Golden State Clubhouse Portland Clubhouse Bulls send Kukoc to Sixers in three-way deal
RECAPS Indiana 109 Toronto 101
Portland 99
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