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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Damon Stoudamire finally proved he can hang with Kobe Bryant, giving the Portland Trail Blazers a sorely needed confidence boost against their nemesis, the Los Angeles
Lakers.
|  | | Rasheed Wallace had team highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers. |
Stoudamire scored all 21 of his points in the second half, and Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds as the Blazers defeated Los Angeles 96-86 Wednesday night.
The teams hadn't met since their much-hyped season opener on
Oct. 31, which the Lakers won 96-86. That was billed as a rematch
of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals last season, when the
Lakers came back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to win and
go on to be NBA champions.
"Once I got my first bucket, things started rolling from
there," said Stoudamire, who had 11 points in the third and 10 in
the fourth. "We haven't been playing well against the elite teams
in our conference. ... This was something we could build on."
Bryant scored 35 points, but 12 came after Portland took control
with a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter. Bryant made 13 of 25 shots,
bouncing back from a three-game stretch in which he averaged only
23.3 points and shot 35 percent.
Shaquille O'Neal had just 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting to go
with 13 rebounds.
While Portland (16-8) pulled into a second-place tie with
Sacramento in the Pacific Division, a half-game behind Phoenix, the
Lakers (15-9) lost their second straight and fourth in five games.
"We've got to do some soul-searching," O'Neal said. "We had a
couple of chances to get control, but we kind of beat ourselves.
They didn't beat us; they can't beat us."
The game was ugly, with both teams going long stretches without
a basket. Portland shot 39 percent, while the Lakers shot 41
percent.
Stoudamire, at 5-foot-10 the shortest player in Blazers history,
always has had trouble handling the 6-7 Bryant. Stoudamire went
0-for-3 from the field in the first half with four turnovers, and
his low point came late in the second quarter when Bryant stripped
the ball from him, drove for a layup and got fouled by Stoudamire.
Stoudamire missed his first shot of the third quarter, a long
jumper, but then sneaked through for a layup and three-point play,
beginning a stretch of eight field goals in 13 attempts.
"Damon got aggressive, and did what we needed him to do," said
Scottie Pippen, who had 18 points. "We want that kind of play out of him."
Stoudamire's 3-pointer put the Blazers ahead 78-69 with just
under five minutes left. He hit another 3 to make it 83-73 with
2:42 to go, and Wallace knocked down a 3 to put the game away at
86-75 with 2:04 left.
"People are going to be concerned, and the fans are
concerned," Bryant said of the Lakers' struggles. "But we have
got to just focus on improving."
The Blazers built an early 10-point lead when the Lakers missed
13 of their first 16 shots, including two brutal-looking airball 3s
by Rick Fox and Robert Horry.
Portland went ahead 30-18 when Wells hit a layup in the open
court and got fouled. The play was set up when Bryant ignored a
pick-and-roll set by O'Neal and drove the lane, getting blocked by
Dale Davis.
O'Neal missed 13 of his first 17 shots, and struggled to find
room against Arvydas Sabonis, Davis and even Shawn Kemp.
"We kept trying to find a way to get to Shaq, but we didn't get
the ball in the right position in the fourth," Lakers coach Phil
Jackson said.
The Blazers shot just 26 percent in the second quarter, but
stayed in it with timely rebounding.
Kemp, a serious liability on offense, made up for it by getting
three offensive rebounds in the period. On one possession, he
tracked down a ball and fed Wallace coming down the lane for a
soaring one-handed slam, the most entertaining play of the night.
The Lakers surged back, however, with Bryant scoring the first
nine points during an 11-0 run. Kemp hit a 21-foot jumper to tie it
44 at halftime.
Game notes
The Lakers led for a total of just 3:24. ... Sabonis, who
missed the opener with a sprained left knee, had only four points
but eight rebounds in 21 minutes. ... Bryant started the game
wearing a jersey that was missing the "a" in his name, but he
changed during the first timeout. ... Both teams had been 4-2 on
the second night of back-to-back games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
Aldridge: Sliding, in Blaze of Glory
RECAPS
Chicago 104
Boston 86
Indiana 97
Dallas 92
Philadelphia 102
Washington 82
Charlotte 101
Sacramento 90
Detroit 92
Atlanta 69
Phoenix 103
San Antonio 93
Milwaukee 111
Utah 102
Seattle 94
Vancouver 93
Miami 94
LA Clippers 88
Portland 96
LA Lakers 86
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Kobe Bryant Official Site
Rick Fox Official Site
Mark Madsen Official Site
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
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