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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Portland Trail Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy
tried a new tactic: mellowing out.
Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds as the Portland
Trail Blazers recovered from their ugliest loss of the season to
beat the Washington Wizards 87-70 Saturday night.
After losing by 20 points at Denver on Friday night and giving
up a season-high 116 points, Dunleavy took a break from his usual
high-pitched screaming and pacing, only occasionally yelling out
instructions or correcting a player who was out of position.
"I tried not to be as active on the bench and let them feel
their way through, make calls, play calls and do what they need to
do," Dunleavy said.
The Blazers led by just one point at the start the fourth
quarter, but eventually did figure things out for themselves,
outscoring the Wizards 27-11 in the period.
"It's tough out there playing anyway, let alone having a coach
sometimes yelling stuff at you, blurting stuff at you," said
Portland's Bonzi Wells. "But Dunleavy's a great coach; he just
stepped back and let us get our flow together.
"It kind of worked for us, so hopefully he'll keep letting us
play and think for ourselves."
Arvydas Sabonis added 16 points and Damon Stoudamire 15 for the
Blazers, who play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Christmas Day.
"We got one that we were supposed to get. I think that makes us
feel better," said Stoudamire, who had scored a season-low two
points against the Nuggets. "We've just got to refocus. You can't
have as many mental breakdowns as we've had."
Obinna Ekezie had a career-high 13 points and Rod Strickland
also had 13 to lead the Wizards, who went 1-4 on their West Coast
road trip. Washington is 5-23 overall and has lost 13 of 14 games.
The Wizards were without two key players for the second straight
game: Reserve guard and third-leading scorer Richard Hamilton
strained his left Achilles' tendon at Vancouver on Wednesday night,
and starting center Jahidi White strained a ligament in his left
knee in the same game.
Portland held Washington scoreless for the first 5:49 of the
fourth. Wallace missed a one-handed dunk, but got the ball right
back from Stoudamire and threw it down with two hands for a 67-59
lead.
Wallace's 3-pointer made it 79-61 with 3:37 left.
"We had some open looks and we did not knock them down," said
Wizards coach Leonard Hamilton. "But it almost becomes a situation
where they eliminated any chance to get to the basket."
The Blazers appeared to take command in the third quarter, when
they finally started hitting some outside shots after missing 14 of
15 from beyond 10 feet in the first half.
Scottie Pippen hit a 19-foot jumper, Stoudamire made a 3-pointer
for the first of three straight baskets, and Pippen sank another
19-footer. An 11-foot baseline shot by Dale Davis finished off a
19-4 run and put the Blazers up 58-51. But Ekezie hit two jumpers
to help Washington get within 60-59 entering the fourth.
The Blazers missed their first six perimeter shots of the game,
but Sabonis met little resistance in the middle, scoring 10 of the
team's first 15 points.
Stoudamire hit Portland's first jumper with just over three
minutes left in the period, capping an 11-0 run that put the
Blazers ahead 18-12.
Washington took the lead back with a 15-4 spurt in the second
quarter, and its depleted bench did most of the work. Ekezie and
Gerard King, who were averaging seven points a game between them,
scored the first 11 for the Wizards in the period.
Chris Whitney, another reserve, hit a 3-pointer and Strickland
converted a layup and free throw for a 37-28 lead.
Game notes
The Wizards have lost four in a row by a combined 85
points. ... Portland's Shawn Kemp made just three of eight shots,
but one of them was a 3-pointer, his first of the season. ... The
Wizards shot just 2-of-11 in the fourth quarter. ... Wallace has
scored at least 20 points in 17 of his 27 games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Atlanta 91
Indiana 87
Charlotte 88
San Antonio 84
Detroit 106
Chicago 93
Miami 86
New Jersey 80
Orlando 111
Cleveland 92
Utah 98
Minnesota 92
Golden State 95
Houston 87
Milwaukee 104
Boston 99
Phoenix 102
Denver 93
Portland 87
Washington 70
LA Clippers 92
Vancouver 90
Sacramento 97
Seattle 92
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
Juwan Howard Official Site
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