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Monday, Jan. 24 10:00pm ET
Anthony hits big 3-pointers in 4th | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers' second unit is used to providing a lift, but this time they had to do some carrying. Greg Anthony hit three big fourth-quarter 3-pointers, and fellow reserves Bonzi Wells and Detlef Schrempf also played big roles as the Portland Trail Blazers held off the New Jersey Nets 101-87 Monday night.
"We were a lot more intense," Anthony said of the second half, in which the Blazers outscored New Jersey 58-37 after trailing by seven at halftime. "Our stars really came out and set the tone, and we just tried to follow that up." Arvydas Sabonis had 21 points and 13 rebounds, but he and the rest of the Blazers' starters sat out most of the final period. The only starter to play more than five minutes was Scottie Pippen, and Sabonis and Stoudamire sat the entire quarter. The starters scored six points on 3-of-6 shooting, while Anthony, Wells and Schrempf scored 24 on 8-of-11 shooting. Stephon Marbury led the Nets with 21 points, but had only three after halftime. "He was working really hard, making some great shots," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said of Marbury. "We came out and tried to wear him out a little bit ,and make him have to be in plays and be involved, and I think it took its toll on him." Rasheed Wallace added 17 points for the Blazers, who won their seventh straight at home and pulled within 1{ games of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division. The Lakers lost to the Utah Jazz in double-overtime. The game went back and forth for most of the second half, and two straight 3-pointers by Lucious Harris put the Nets up for the last time, 74-73, with 10:43 to play. Portland then went on a 17-2 run, and the third of Anthony's left-handed 3-pointers gave the Blazers a 86-76 lead with 7:23 to go. A short jumper by Wells and a layup by Schrempf off a dish from Wells made it 90-76 with 6:11 left. "The looks on our faces were almost like the game was over already," New Jersey's Keith Van Horn said. "You can still win games like that, and I think that instead of just trying to keep our focus I think we gave in a little bit." Steve Smith added 16 points and Pippen had 10 assists for the Blazers, who were coming off their biggest win of the season, a 95-91 victory at the Lakers on Saturday. "We didn't want to give this game away after big wins in L.A. and San Antonio," Wells said. "The first half was kind of sluggish, but in the second half, we saw that Utah beat L.A., and we had a little momentum that let us push it down their throat and run them out of the gym." New Jersey, which is 13-10 at home, fell to 4-14 on the road. Van Horn scored 17 points and Kendall Gill had 14 for New Jersey. The Nets, who began a four-game West Coast trip after winning two straight at home, couldn't contain the 7-foot-3 Sabonis early. He scored 14 of the Blazers' 26 points in the first quarter and had eight of their 16 rebounds, but the 34-year-old Lithuanian stayed on the bench for nearly nine minutes in the second quarter, and the Blazers stumbled. Portland led by four to start the period, but fell behind 50-37 when Marbury hit a 19-foot jumper with 1:53 left. Damon Stoudamire hit a baseline jumper and Sabonis and Smith hit four free throws to help the Blazers pull to 50-43. The Blazers went on a 14-0 run on Stoudamire's steal and layup to put the Blazers ahead 51-50 early in the third. The lead changed six times after that, and the Blazers had a 71-68 lead entering the fourth. Marbury's comments after the game were brief. "They played like a championship team tonight. That's all I'd like to say." Game notesPortland is 31-10, the same record as last season after 41 games. ... The Blazers are 22-3 against the Nets in Portland. ... New Jersey's Kerry Kittles was 2-for-2 on 3-pointers, surpassing Chris Morris' franchise record for career 3-pointers at 370. ... Marbury has scored in double figures 53 straight games. He also has led his team in assists in 38 of the Nets' 41 games. ... Nets center Jamie Feick, who had 37 rebounds in his last two games, did not start against Sabonis. That duty fell to Jim McIlvaine, who did not score in 10 minutes. Feick had six points and six rebounds. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard New Jersey Clubhouse Portland Clubhouse RECAPS New York 112 Seattle 106
Portland 101
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