Blazers win 4th straight, beat Clippers 108-93
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and eight rebounds, Wesley Matthews added 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 108-93 Thursday night, matching a season high with their fourth straight win.
Portland shot 56 percent from the field and went on an 18-6 run to finish the game. Rudy Fernandez had 17 points and Andre Miller added 15 for the Blazers, who are 11-2 in their last 13 home games.
Eric Gordon had 35 points for Los Angeles despite playing with an injured tendon on the ring finger of his shooting hand. Blake Griffin added 20 points and 18 rebounds, and Baron Davis had 16 points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Clippers had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Portland took the lead just before halftime and kept it for the rest of the game. Gordon made two 3-pointers and Griffin knocked down a 20-footer to get the Clippers within 90-87. The Blazers went up 96-89 with 3:12 left when Aldridge backed up Griffin and hit a jump hook. Matthews made his fourth 3 and then hit two free throws to put Portland up 101-91. Fernandez scored five straight points to put the Clippers away.
Both teams were playing for second straight night. The Blazers beat the Kings in overtime Wednesday despite playing without Marcus Camby, whose 11.3 rebounds per game rank fifth in the NBA. The Clippers, who started the season 1-13, have been a different team since the middle of December, and they won for the 11th time in 15 games against the Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Aldridge and Griffin are both contending for a power forward spot on the Western Conference All-Star team. Griffin entered the game averaging 22.7 points and 12.7 rebounds a game. On Monday, he scored 47 points against Indiana, and he had a 27-game stretch of double-doubles come to an end Wednesday against Minnesota.
Aldridge entered the game averaging 21.1 points and 8.8 rebounds. He has emerged as the team's most productive player since three-time All-Star Brandon Roy went out in mid-December, but he had a season-low four points on 2-of-10 shooting against Sacramento.
The Clippers started the game by sprinting to a 16-2 lead, but the Blazers went on a 21-5 run, with Matthews hitting two 3s to tie it at 23. Randy Foye made a pull-up jumper and a 3 to put the Clippers up 40-35, but Matthews made his third 3 in the half to put Portland ahead 47-45.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Portland led 84-71 in the third after Nicolas Batum made back-to-back 3-pointers. Miller scored on an alley-oop and then a breakaway layup to extend the lead to 90-79 with 9:02 left in the game.
NOTES: The Blazers are 14-7 without Roy and 4-1 without Camby this season. ... Batum had 10 points after scoring a season-high 24 against Sacramento. ... The Clippers have lost five straight to Portland at the Rose Garden, by an average of 15.8 points.