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Thursday, Dec. 30 10:00pm ET
76ers finish 3-1 on road trip to West | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers won with the usual contributors, plus a new one: Bonzi Wells. Wells scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and Rasheed Wallace had 23 points and 11 rebounds as the Blazers blew an early 25-point lead before pulling away to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-90 Thursday night. "Again, Bonzi gave us another great night offensively off the bench and did some great things for us," Scottie Pippen said of the second-year guard, who had career-highs with 16 points and seven rebounds. Wells, who had been averaging 6.3 points through his first 25 games, scored 14 in Tuesday night's win over Golden State. On Thursday night, his best work came down the stretch as the Blazers survived one last 76ers run. "Definitely, it's better than sitting behind the bench," Wells said. "I know I'll be on somebody's scouting report now." Allen Iverson scored 32 points for the Sixers, raising his league-leading average to 29.9 a game. Philadelphia had won three straight, all on the road. Steve Smith added 20 points and Pippen had 13 for the Blazers, who won their fourth straight. The game was tied late in the third quarter, but Portland ran off 11 straight points to end the quarter ahead 78-66. The Sixers used a 10-0 run to get within 84-78 with 6:56 to play, but couldn't get closer. A 3-pointer by Smith and an 18-foot jumper by Wells made it 100-85 with 2:09 left. "We got a lot of confidence out of this game," Iverson said. "We proved we can play on the road and compete with tough teams. We just never give up. That's the identity of this team. We stay in the game like it's our last game." The Blazers led 41-16 early in the second period and by 15 at halftime, but it slipped away in a hurry. After a bank shot by Wallace less than two minutes into the third, Philadelphia went on a 20-1 run to tie it at 63. Portland missed seven straight shots and committed seven turnovers during the run. A layup by Brian Grant ended a nearly eight-minute Portland stretch without a field goal to make it 67-63. After a free throw by Iverson pulled the Sixers within 67-66 with 1:52 left in the third, the Blazers couldn't miss. Greg Anthony started the surge with a driving layup, then Pippen hit two straight 3-pointers. With 1.6 seconds left, Pippen inbounded to Wallace, who sank another 3 to push the lead back to 78-66 heading into the fourth. Portland hit its last four shots of the quarter after starting 3-for-14. "It was a phenomenal comeback," said 76ers coach Larry Brown, who was ejected at halftime for arguing with the officials. "I'm more proud of the team after this game than the three games we won." Portland's Damon Stoudamire outplayed Iverson in the opening minutes of the game, outscoring him 9-2 before leaving the game with two fouls. Stoudamire didn't score again. Smith scored the Blazers' last six points to make it 35-14 after one quarter. The Blazers pushed the lead to 41-16 on a 3-pointer by Greg Anthony, but the Sixers outscored them 22-8 over the next 7:08. Iverson scored eight points during the run, and his 3-pointer cut the lead to 49-38. Pippen drove for a layup and hit a 3-pointer, and Smith knocked the ball away from Iverson and got an easy layup to end the half and put the Blazers ahead 56-41. As the players headed for the locker room, both Iverson and Brown yelled at referee Tommie Wood for not calling a foul on Smith. Brown, one night after getting his 700th NBA coaching victory, had to be restrained by his assistant coaches and was hit with two technical fouls, an automatic ejection. "That made me feel good that Larry fought for me, but I wish he would have been in the game to fight with us, because he's our leader and we need him," said Iverson, who has had a stormy relationship with his coach.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Philadelphia Clubhouse Portland Clubhouse 76ers coach Brown ejected at halftime against Blazers
RECAPS Indiana 109 Charlotte 99
Portland 108
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