Trail Blazers 89, Magic 85
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and took over down the stretch as the Portland Trail Blazers extended their season-high road winning streak to six with an 89-85 victory over the Dwight Howard-less Orlando Magic on Monday night.
Howard served a one-game suspension for picking up his 16th technical
foul of the season Friday against Chicago.
Andre Miller had 15 points and seven assists for the Trail Blazers (36-27), who have won three straight and 10 of their last 13.
Jason Richardson had 22 points and four 3-pointers, and Ryan Anderson, who started in Howard's
place, had 13 points and seven rebounds for Orlando (40-24).
Portland led by as many as seven in the first half and led 64-50 with 4:35 left in the third before Richardson and Gilbert Arenas scored seven points apiece during a 16-6 closing run that pulled Orlando within 70-66 after the third.
Consecutive shots from the arc by Richardson tied the game at 74-74 and Anderson drained a 3-pointer to give the Magic a 77-76 edge with eight minutes left.
But Aldridge came alive with an 18-foot jumper, free throw, layup and another short jumper to give Portland an 85-79 lead with 4:18 left.
After Orlando’s Earl Clark converted a driving layup, Miller penetrated and kicked to Wesley Matthews, who drained a wide-open 3-pointer from the right corner with 3:02 left, and Portland remained clear the rest of the way.