Trail Blazers 107, 76ers 103
LaMarcus Aldridge collected 25 points and seven rebounds and Gerald Wallace added 21 points and nine boards as the Portland Trail Blazers opened their season with a 107-103 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
Wesley Matthews chipped in 16 points and Jamal Crawford scored 12 off the bench for the Blazers, who are adjusting to life following the retirement of former star Brandon Roy.
Aldridge, who stepped up in Roy’s absence last season, seems comfortable in the go-to role and carried Portland to a 48-44 halftime edge with 18 points before the break.
The 76ers stayed close in the third and pulled to within 77-74 when Thaddeus Young opened the fourth quarter with a jumper. The Blazers took off on a 15-3 run from that point, getting 3-pointers from Wallace, Matthews and Crawford during the spurt.
Philadelphia would recover with its own long-range barrage, cutting back to 105-103 on Louis Williams’ 3-pointer with 16 seconds left. But Raymond Felton split four free throws over the final 15.7 seconds to seal it for Portland.
Williams scored 25 points off the bench and Andre Iguodala collected 22 points and eight rebounds for the 76ers.