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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Best record in the NBA? Yeah, the
Philadelphia 76ers still have that.
Best team in the league? No way. Not with the way they were
manhandled by the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
|  | | Bonzi Wells puts it in drive in the lane, forcing the Sixers' George Lynch to back off. |
Damon Stoudamire thoroughly outplayed Allen Iverson, Rasheed
Wallace found a way to get his shot over the league's leading
shot-blocker and the Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to
nine games with a dominating 93-75 victory Wednesday night.
"They way we came into the locker room afterward, it was an
empty feeling -- like it was our last game of the season,"
Philadelphia's Aaron McKie said.
Pretty strong words after a mid-January game, but that's exactly
how deflating this loss seemed to be to the Sixers.
What was expected to be a closely contested game between the
teams with the league's two best records wasn't even all that
competitive. Portland (26-10) scored 16 of the first 19 points,
easily fought off a pair of runs by Philadelphia (25-9) and dealt
the Sixers a humbling defeat that ended their winning streak at
seven.
So lopsided was the contest that the Sixers' sellout crowd --
just their third of the season despite the team's terrific start --
started heading for the exits with just under six minutes left.
Even without Scottie Pippen, who sat out with right elbow
tendinitis, allowing Stacey Augmon to make his third start of the season, Portland was in total control.
The Blazers never trailed, passed the ball splendidly in
accumulating a season-high 34 assists and outscored the 76ers 23-10
in the fourth quarter to avenge a 13-point loss earlier this
season.
"This was big for us just to see where we are," Stoudamire
said. "We've played a lot of the teams in the West, and this is
our second time playing some of the teams in the East, so this was
big for us."
Stoudamire scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to
give the Trail Blazers a double-digit lead they wouldn't
relinquish. He finished with 17 points, 11 assists and five
rebounds and played great defense on Iverson, holding
Philadelphia's leading scorer to 12 points on 5-for-21 shooting.
Wallace added 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists matched
against Theo Ratliff, the league's leading shot-blocker who was
able to manage only one rejection.
"Theo's long, I'm pretty long, too, but the best way to attack a
shot-blocker is to go right at his body," Wallace said.
Bonzi Wells added 13 points, Arvydas Sabonis had 11 and Augmon, Dale Davis and Steve Smith added 10 apiece for the Blazers,
whose five-game Eastern road trip continues Thursday night at
Charlotte.
Stoudamire took a bit of a slap at the Sixers by predicting that
the game against the Hornets would be Portland's most difficult on
this trip, and he may have been right. With Portland's defense
frustrating the Sixers and its offense providing the big early
edge, the Blazers controlled things throughout.
Iverson looked nothing like the team-first player he was the
previous night in New Jersey. Repeatedly dribbling into traffic and
trying to take on two or more defenders by himself, Iverson shot
just 3-for-13 in the first half.
Iverson was more willing to play 5-on-5 in the second half, but
his teammates weren't in sync. McKie missed 10 of his first 12
shots, including his first four of the third quarter, while the
Blazers were shared the ball well and hit their shots.
A wide-open jumper by Shawn Kemp gave the Trail Blazers a 68-57
lead with 2:26 left in the third, and Stoudamire started the fourth
quarter with a jumper over Iverson and a 3-pointer to make it
77-65.
Portland's lead eventually got as high as 20.
"They're a good team, but we were more prepared for them this
go-around," Davis said. "The first time (the Blazers played
Philadelphia) was early in the year and we weren't in any kind of
sync. Tonight was a good test for us because we were on a nice
winning streak and they were, too.
"What we had to do was contain Iverson and not let other guys
have big nights. When they played us in Portland, their role
player-type guys really hurt us."
Game notes
Pippen, who missed his first game of the season, sat on the bench
with his arm in a sling. He is listed as day to day, but he said
the chances of him playing against the Hornets are "slim and
none." ... Portland improved to 16-3 against teams from the East
with eight consecutive victories. The Blazers are playing 14 of
their 16 games this month against teams from the East. ...
Philadelphia plays on the road Friday at Washington before
beginning a five-game homestand. The Sixers won their first eight
at home, but have lost five of their last six.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 88
Miami 76
Seattle 104
Washington 101
Toronto 110
Detroit 85
Dallas 106
Minnesota 86
Portland 93
Philadelphia 75
LA Clippers 92
Denver 86
Sacramento 108
Cleveland 103
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rasheed Wallace still feels like his team has room to grow.
wav: 118 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Damon Stoudamire knew his team would win as long as they stuck to the game plan.
wav: 76 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
Larry Brown Official Site
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