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GAME FLOW
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – As the San Antonio Spurs continue their March
onslaught, the Portland Trail Blazers just keep falling.
The Spurs, who are leading the Western Conference, beat Portland
98-85 Monday night for their 10th win in 11 games.
|  | | The Spurs' Derek Anderson tries to protect the ball as Scottie Pippen steps up the pressure. |
Meanwhile, the Blazers, who led the conference just three weeks
ago, dropped to sixth place after losing their fifth of six games.
For the Blazers, it was the start of a grueling three-game road
trip that continues Tuesday night at Dallas and Thursday night at
Utah.
"We have to fight for our lives and keep our position," said
Damon Stoudamire, who had six points for Portland. "We can't drop
any lower. Things are snowballing right now.
"I know things can change throughout a season, but never in my
wildest dreams would I have imagined that we would be in the
position that we are in right now," he said. "We are in sixth
position now, but we'll be in seventh by the end of the week the
way we're playing right now."
With Portland center Arvydas Sabonis out for most of the game
after a fall and Scottie Pippen in foul trouble, the Blazers
couldn't catch up once the Spurs surged ahead by as many as 17 in
the first quarter. They never cut the lead to less than nine.
"It's pretty tough. We just have to continue to fight through
it," said Pippen, who had six points, seven assists and seven
rebounds. "I really don't have an answer for it. We just need to
play harder – defend, just do the little things and stop teams from
dominating. Right now we're not doing that. The first half showed
that."
Some of the Blazers' defeats have been pinned on Rasheed
Wallace, who despite leading the team in scoring has picked up 37
technical fouls this season, one short of the NBA record he set
last year.
But on Monday night, Wallace had 20 points and no foul problems.
Reserve Steve Smith led Portland with 23 points that included four
3-pointers.
It was San Antonio's second victory over the Blazers in 11 days.
Derek Anderson had 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Tim Duncan
had 20 points and tied his career high with 23 rebounds. David
Robinson added 15 points.
San Antonio took control in the first quarter, going up 24-10
after a 14-0 run, including 3-pointers by Anderson and Terry Porter
and a 3-point play by Samaki Walker, who threw the ball up from
under the basket and drew the foul.
"We are playing very confidently right now," Duncan said. "We
know what to do and we're doing it."
"They're hungry and they see what's possible," Spurs coach
Gregg Popovich said.
Sabonis left the game early in the second quarter with ice on
his left ankle after falling while trying to grab a rebound. The
7-foor-3 center, who earlier this month was hampered by a sore
right foot, scored four points in seven minutes of play. He has
been averaging 10.3 points a game.
Game notes
San Antonio has won 24 of its last 29 games. ... Duncan had
15 rebounds and scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half. ...
Portland had won the three previous games against the Spurs in San
Antonio. ... Sean Elliott missed his sixth straight game with a
sore left leg.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
San Antonio Clubhouse
RECAPS
Atlanta 108
LA Lakers 106
San Antonio 98
Portland 85
Seattle 93
Philadelphia 89
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tim Duncan shows his versatility with a 3-pointer, a rebound and a block against Portland.
avi: 1640 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Tim Duncan was pleased with the 48-minute effort by the Spurs.
wav: 121 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
David Robinson felt the Spurs are on the right track after their victory over the Blazers.
wav: 98 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Terry Porter hopes the Spurs can continue their winning ways.
wav: 97 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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