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PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Clippers were back on the road, which got the Portland Trail Blazers back on track. The Clippers showed very little fight in a 113-93 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, who got a season-high 29 points from Damon Stoudamire and hurdled Los Angeles in the Pacific Division standings. The playoff-hopeful Clippers are 17-7 at home but are a very different team on the road, where they are just 3-14 and play the majority of their remaining games. "I think we're a good basketball team," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "I think we can win road games, but it doesn't really matter unless the guys believe that in our locker room." It was the same old story in this one. Los Angeles fell behind for good in the first six minutes and trailed by as many as 38 points in the third quarter as its defense was non-existent. "We don't bring energy or intensity on the road," Clippers forward Darius Miles said. "I'm one of the players that's supposed to come off the bench and bring intensity, so I feel like it's my fault." Stoudamire had a quiet first quarter but fueled an 8-0 surge in the second period and scored 14 points in the third quarter, when the Trail Blazers turned it into a blowout. "I wanted to come out and establish early offense, and I was able to do that," Stoudamire said. Stoudamire made 12-of-22 shots, including 5-of-9 3-pointers, and added eight rebounds. In a 29-7 explosion in the first six minutes of the third quarter, Stoudamire scored 12 points and made three 3-pointers. "In the third quarter, I was able to open up with some 3-pointers," Stoudamire said. "They were looking for me and I was getting some open looks and I was just hitting shots." "Damon just keeps playing well," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks added. "He's been playing that way for quite a while now. What I really liked was the way he jumps in and gets rebounds against bigger people. When your point guard gets a rebound, that's great for you because you can run right away." Ruben Patterson scored 16 points and Scottie Pippen added 13 and nine assists for the Blazers, who bounced back from a tough home overtime loss to Miami on Thursday and won for the seventh time in nine games. "Tonight we kind of put ourselves back on track and got ourselves together and went out there and played a purposeful game," Cheeks said. The Blazers had season highs in baskets (45), 3-pointers (10) and assists (34). They shot 54 percent (45-of-83) and made 13-of-14 free throws. Forward Rasheed Wallace scored 12 points and did a great job on Clippers forward Elton Brand, holding him to nine points and five rebounds. Brand came in with six straight double-doubles. Portland (20-20) moved past Los Angeles (20-21) into a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference with Phoenix (20-20). A runner by Pippen gave the Blazers the lead for good at 13-11 midway through the first quarter. They built it to 29-20 after one period as Pippen scored 10 points. Stoudamire scored six points in an 8-0 burst, including a jumper that widened the advantage to 39-24 with 7:45 left in the first half. Portland led 58-42 at halftime and broke it open with perhaps their best six minutes of the season. Pippen handed out eight assists and Bonzi Wells had a pair of 3-pointers, including one that made it 87-49 with 6:04 left. "That was big," Wells said. "Coach always says at halftime, 'The first five minutes are very, very important. We've got to set the tone in the first five minutes.' That just kind of stuck in our heads. We really wanted to set the tone, make a statement and not let them come back, don't give them no life." "Scottie was the catalyst in the third quarter, not only with his assists but with his defense on the point guard (Jeff McInnis)," Cheeks said. Wells scored 13 points and Shawn Kemp added 10 for Portland, which held a 46-39 edge on the glass. Miles scored 20 points and Quentin Richardson added 19 for Los Angeles, which shot 37 percent (34-of-92) and got just 34 points from its starters. |
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