Pacers at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers seek their 12th victory in 13 games when they host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Portland had to work to get past Denver on Tuesday as center Robin Lopez scored the tiebreaking basket with 1.3 seconds left in a 105-103 win. Indiana has been battling through injuries and that made dealing with speedy Phoenix a chore as the Pacers went down to a 116-99 defeat on Tuesday.
Indiana is 0-2 on a four-game road trip after the loss to the Suns but did get center Roy Hibbert (ankle) back after a four-game absence. Portland star LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-best 39 points in the Trail Blazers’ win over the Nuggets but it was what he did in the final seconds that was the stunner – passing the ball to Lopez for the winning hoop. “Everybody in the arena thought I would shoot it if I touched it,” Aldridge told reporters.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE PACERS (7-11): Hibbert came back strong and had 15 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He also recorded one block – the 903rd of his career – to move within one of fourth-place Dale Davis in franchise history. Hibbert is averaging 13.2 points and eight rebounds but has only scored in double figures in back-to-back games on two occasions and has yet to have consecutive double-digit outings on the boards.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (14-4): The showing against Denver continued a string of good performances for Aldridge, who has five double-doubles over the last six games. “His stroke was going really well and I think the fact we had so many 3s the last time and they were doubling him, they wanted to play him straight this time,” coach Terry Stotts told reporters. “So he carried us, not only with his jump shot but then late going to the post, getting to the free-throw line.” Aldridge is averaging 24.3 points and 12.5 rebounds during the hot stretch.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Indiana has dropped five straight visits to Portland.
2. The Trail Blazers are 12-1 when scoring 100 or more points; the Pacers are 1-7 when opponents reach the century mark.
3. Indiana received a season-high 57 points from its bench in the loss to Phoenix.