Trail Blazers 103, Magic 92
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points as host Portland outlasted slumping Orlando.
Wesley Matthews had 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Damian Lillard scored 16 points for the Trail Blazers, who have won 12 of their last 14 games. Meyers Leonard had 11 points and Nicolas Batum contributed a season-best 10 rebounds, seven points and tied his season high of four blocked shots as Portland improved to 18-3 at home.
Nikola Vucevic had a career-high 34 points on 15-of-23 shooting and collected 16 rebounds for the Magic, who lost their sixth consecutive contest. Victor Oladipo had 18 points and eight rebounds for Orlando, which was 3-of-21 from 3-point range.
Vucevic made two free throws to tie the score at 85 with 4:11 remaining before Portland rolled off the next six points. Elfrid Payton’s basket moved Orlando within four with 1:27 to play before Matthews drained a 3-pointer and Lillard added three free throws to make it a 10-point margin.
Portland led 39-20 after Thomas Robinson’s dunk with 7:22 left in the second quarter but the Magic got hot and eventually closed with a 12-2 burst to trail 46-41 at the half. Orlando used an 11-0 run early in the third quarter to take a four-point edge but two free throws by Aldridge with 16 seconds left gave the Trail Blazers a 72-70 edge entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vucevic has four consecutive double-doubles and 22 overall. … Portland committed 20 turnovers leading to 23 Magic points. … Orlando possessed a 49-43 rebounding edge one night after being clobbered 60-36 on the boards in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.