PORTLAND, Ore. — LaMarcus Aldridge hit the go-ahead layup despite a bum ankle and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a two-game skid with a 95-88 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Aldridge finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. He pulled the Blazers to 81-all midway through the final quarter with an alley-oop layup.
But Portland was unable to pull ahead until Aldridge’s layup made it 86-85 with 3:02 left. Aldridge went into the game with a sore right ankle and even left the floor for a time in the first half.
Aldridge hit yet another layup and added a free throw to give Portland an 89-85 cushion with 1:37 left.
Tyreke Evans had 19 points and Thompson added 18 for the Kings, who lost their seventh straight on the road.
Brandon Roy had 25 points and a season-high 10 assists for Portland.
The Blazers started Andre Miller at point guard rather than Steve Blake. Such a move had been speculated since Portland signed Miller as a free agent in the offseason. Miller had four points.
Blazers coach Nate McMillan was back on the bench, after sitting out the team’s recent four-game road trip because of surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. He sported a walking cast.
McMillan had stepped in to practice with the injury-depleted Trail Blazers on Dec. 4 when he injured his ankle. Assistant Dean Demopoulos served as Portland’s head coach on the 1-3 road trip.
Portland’s injured list is lengthy. Starting forward Nicolas Batum was lost just before the start of the season because of shoulder surgery, forward Travis Outlaw fractured his left foot in mid-November and forward Rudy Fernandez had a procedure on his back to alleviate leg pain earlier this month.
But perhaps the injury that stung the most was center Greg Oden’s left kneecap, which he broke during a game against Houston on Dec. 5. The 7-foot former No. 1 draft pick underwent surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
Portland led by as many as nine points in the first quarter but the young Kings came back in the second, and took a 36-33 lead on Spencer Hawes’ bank shot.
The Kings pushed the lead to 51-40 on former Blazer Ime Udoka’s 3-pointer late in the first half.
The Blazers chipped away in the third quarter, tying it at 56 on Aldridge’s dunk. Portland went up 62-60 on Martell Webster’s dunk.
Portland’s lead was short-lived, and Sacramento went up 69-66 on Thompson’s jumper, then extended it with Evans’ layup and Omri Casspi’s dunk.
Sacramento had a 73-66 lead going into the final quarter, but Portland narrowed it to 78-76 on Jerryd Bayless’ layup. The Blazers could have come closer a short time later but Bayless missed one of two free throws.
Portland narrowed it again to 81-79 on Roy’s layup, then pulled even with Aldridge’s alley-oop layup.
NOTES: The Blazers have won three straight over the Kings. … In addition to Batum, Outlaw, Fernandez and Oden, Blazers rookies Patty Mills (right foot) and Jeff Pendergraph (hip) are also injured. With the exception of Oden, all watched from the Blazers bench on Tuesday night in street clothes.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
