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Saturday, Nov. 27 11:00pm ET
Blazers put clamps on Clippers, win again | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Damon Stoudamire and Scottie Pippen are enjoying their surroundings this season much more than last year. Stoudamire scored 24 points Saturday night and Pippen came within one rebound of his first triple-double with the Portland Trail Blazers, who breezed to an 88-71 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. "I'm having a lot of fun -- not that I didn't have a lot of fun in Toronto, but losing pretty much got on my nerves," Stoudamire said. "They're playing well up there now, but I'm happy to be where I'm at. Winning games is what it's all about." Pippen had 10 points, 10 assists and nine boards, helping Portland improve to 13-2. It is the second-best start in club history for the Blazers, who set a club record for victories in the month of November. "Anytime you're winning and on top, you've got to enjoy it," said the 13-year veteran, who won six championship rings with the Chicago Bulls before spending a disastrous 1998-99 season in Houston. "I've been brought into a different atmosphere and a style of play that is more up-tempo," Pippen said. "The guys here are much more athletic and can run, which is a style I'm more accustomed to playing in." Tyrone Nesby scored 16 points for the Clippers, who played without forward Maurice Taylor for the seventh consecutive game because of a sprained ligament in his left foot and lost Derek Anderson with 4:10 left in the third quarter due to a sinus infection. Rasheed Wallace added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who beat the Clippers for the 13th time in 14 games and the seventh straight time on the road -- while holding them to 33 percent shooting. The Clippers were at their absolute worst during a 1:23 stretch of the first quarter, when Portland took the lead for good. Anderson's offensive foul led to a tiebreaking 3-pointer by Pippen, whose interception of a pass by Troy Hudson led directly to a driving layup by Stoudamire. Wallace then swiped a pass by Anderson, resulting in a 3-pointer by Stoudamire and an eight-point lead. "Damon's really found himself now and he knows what he's going to have to do to help this team win," teammate Brian Grant said. "First, he's got to be a point guard, and secondly be somebody who can step up and hit big shots. "It takes a lot to be able to get other people going and then, all of a sudden, turn it on to make the big shot. That takes an awful lot of maturity, and he's grown a lot." Nesby followed a missed slam-dunk attempt with a 3-pointer on the same possession, bringing Los Angeles as close as 31-28 with nine minutes left in the second quarter. But the Trail Blazers scored 13 consecutive points during a 3:46 span and pulled away to a commanding 54-36 lead by halftime. After making only five of 23 shots from the field in the second quarter against a Portland team playing its fourth game in five nights, the Clippers became the fourth opponent the Blazers have held under 40 percent shooting in their last seven road games. "Obviously, they're a very good ballclub at all five positions," Clippers forward Brian Skinner said. "They have good defenders and great scorers. They're going to be a team to be reckoned with. "They have a lot of seasoned veterans and they really know what each position they play calls for. They have a full team concept and they're playing very well together right now." Game notesThe Trail Blazers improved to 7-0 on the second night of back-to-back games. ... The game, which started a half-hour later than usual, served as the nightcap of the first-ever hockey/basketball doubleheader at Staples Center. Counting the two-hour, three-minute conversion from ice to hardwood following the Kings-San Jose affair, the long day's journey into night lasted nine hours, 35 minutes from opening faceoff to final buzzer. The Kings attracted a sellout crowd of 18,118, but the Clippers came up 4,412 short of their 18,964 capacity. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Portland Clubhouse LA Clippers Clubhouse RECAPS New York 99 Orlando 96
Portland 88
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