Blazers beat Grizzlies, 93-79
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 11:23 AM PST
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Brandon Roy scored 20 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers won their third straight with a 93-79 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
Casey Blake and Greg Oden had 14 points each for Portland, all of Odens coming in the second half.
Marc Gasol led Memphis with 20 points, while O.J. Mayo scored 17.
The Grizzlies, who dropped their sixth straight, still were without guard Allen Iverson, who left the team last weekend, with owner Michael Heisleys blessing, after playing three games on the West Coast.
Memphis center Hasheem Thabeet, the No. 2 overall pick in last years draft, suffered a fractured jaw late in the first quarter when he collided with Randolphs head.
The Trail Blazers have now won eight straight in the series.
Portland broke open the game with a 14-1 run in the third period erasing a Memphis lead. The Grizzlies never really threatened after Portland rebuilt the lead to double digits on Oden’s dunk with 10 minutes left in the game.
Randolphs layup with 13.6 seconds left in the half tied the game at 45.
Neither team held a lead of more than 6 in the half. There were seven ties and 13 lead changes before the break.
Aldridge had 12 points to lead the Trail Blazers, while Roy had 10 at intermission. The pair was a combined 9-of-11 from the field.
Gasol had 12 points for Memphis.
Portland eventually put together the 14-1 rally, extending the Trail Blazers lead to 67-55, their largest advantage of the game at that point. Memphis was struggling from the field, hitting only four of its first 16 shots in the quarter.
The Grizzlies were able to whittle away at the lead, and Gasols 3-point play with 6.3 seconds left in the quarter, cut the Portland advantage to 69-61 entering the fourth.
Notes: Memphis last defeated Portland on March 29, 2007. Portland has won 25 straight games over NBA teams that start with the letter M (Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee and Minnesota). Travis Outlaws tip at the end of the first half was ruled to have come after the horn. Officials reviewed the play before letting the ruling stand.
