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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- At the midway point of their season, many
of the Portland Trail Blazers' veterans need a breather. Not the
baby of the group, Bonzi Wells.
Wells scored 13 of his 22 points in a sensational first quarter,
and Rasheed Wallace added 18 points as the Trail Blazers defeated the Miami Heat 85-74 on Thursday night.
"I just get out and run, just complement these guys well,"
said Wells, who has led the Blazers in scoring three straight
games. Portland is 10-1 since the 24-year-old forward took over the
starting shooting guard job from Steve Smith. "I just make buckets."
Overall, the Blazers have won 13 of 14 and lead the Western
Conference with a 30-11 record. That's one game off the Blazers'
mark at the same time last year, when they won 59 games.
"Everybody's getting into the mode. Everybody's playing hard," Wells said. "It's a great formula."
Wells made six of seven shots in the opening period. Five
baskets were layups or dunks, as Portland raced to a 27-10 lead.
Eddie Jones had 20 points to lead Miami, which lost its fourth straight on the road. The Heat, last in the NBA in rebounding, were
beaten 48-29 on the boards.
"They were one and done as far as shooting the ball," Blazers
coach Mike Dunleavy said. "When we're defending and rebounding,
we're tough to beat."
Wells had 10 rebounds and Stacey Augmon, starting for the
injured Scottie Pippen, had eight.
Brian Grant, playing in Portland for the first time since the Blazers traded him to the Heat in a three-way deal last summer, was
held to 11 points. He was called for traveling on Miami's first
possession, and finished with just four rebounds against Portland
centers Arvydas Sabonis and Dale Davis.
"We came out soft," Grant said. "You've got to be aggressive against a team like this. You can't get down 17 points and expect to beat this team. They're the best team in the NBA."
Grant, the most popular Blazer during his three seasons in the Rose City, got the loudest cheers during pregame introductions.
"I very much appreciated that. I expected nothing negative, but I didn't expect that much," Grant said. "It was real nice coming back. I saw Paul Allen and his mother coming in. We said hello, we shook hands and talked a little bit. There were no ill feelings."
Portland settled into an offensive groove in the first quarter, stumbled in the second and regained the momentum for good in the third. The Blazers slowly built on a nine-point lead with inside baskets from Wallace, Sabonis and Augmon, then broke it open from the outside.
Damon Stoudamire hit a 3-pointer, then a 17-foot jumper, to make it 63-43 with 2½ minutes left in the third quarter.
"I felt we were outclassed," Miami coach Pat Riley said.
"Usually we play with a little bit more heart, but they took our
heart from us tonight with their size and their talent."
The Blazers broke an 8-all tie with a 19-2 run that showed just
how athletic they can be. Wells led the charge with 11 points, most
of them on highlight-worthy plays. On one, he stole a pass from Tim Hardaway, made a difficult left-handed layup and got fouled. On another, he fed Wallace inside for an acrobatic two-handed reverse dunk.
Wells finished the period by following Wallace's miss with a
slam that put the Blazers ahead by 17.
"He was strong and aggressive getting to the rim in transition," Dunleavy said. "Also, our guys did a good job finding him around the rim."
The Heat rallied behind Jones and Grant in the second, and
Jones' 3-pointer cut the lead to 39-31. Wells got his first points
of the period on a 21-foot jumper just before the horn to push the
lead back to 10.
Game notes
Miami's Anthony Mason scored just four points on 1-of-9
shooting. ... Pippen missed his sixth straight game with a sore
right elbow, but said he probably will play Saturday against
Sacramento. ... Miami fell to 8-8 against the Western Conference.
... Shawn Kemp, whom the Blazers got in return for Grant, had eight points and four rebounds. ... Sabonis had a season-high six
assists.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
'Retired' Schrempf returns to Trail Blazers' practice
RECAPS
Indiana 84
Atlanta 76
Dallas 115
Orlando 106
Portland 85
Miami 74
Detroit 116
Chicago 110
Houston 112
Golden State 104
Boston 82
LA Clippers 79
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
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