Aldridge leads Blazers on sore ankle
December 16, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) hit the go-ahead layup despite a bumankle and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a two-game skid with a 95-88victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Aldridge finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. He pulled the Blazers to81-all midway through the final quarter with an alley-oop layup.
But Portland was unable to pull ahead until Aldridge’s layup made it 86-85with 3:02 left. Aldridge went into the game with a sore right ankle and evenleft the floor for a time in the first half.
Sacramento Kings' Ime Udok… AP – Dec 15, 11:38 pm EST Sacramento Kings' Donte G… AP – Dec 15, 11:38 pm EST
Sacramento Kings' Donte Gr… AP – Dec 15, 11:20 pm EST
Sacramento Kings' Jason Th… AP – Dec 15, 11:19 pm EST
Sacramento Kings' Spencer … AP – Dec 15, 11:19 pm EST YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index = 4; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_lazy_images = [http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091216/capt.a0268728f16f4826b65e980474b74439.kings_trail_blazers_basketball_pda104.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=363&hc=403&q=70&sig=iqZonZAO7GD65yXTafNCCw--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091216/capt.49f2b96008964778b9d804f3a2c4a3d6.kings_trail_blazers_basketball_pda102.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=247&hc=274&q=70&sig=EHtQgCiyyN9VpytpMUQu2A--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091216/capt.5326995b8c754933a4f31fe955511605.kings_trail_blazers_basketball_pda103.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=76&yc=1&wc=259&hc=288&q=70&sig=dyC5Q5iLh8u2zeXscz1VBg--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091216/capt.5838392636a04245bd4d19a0a5cea745.kings_trail_blazers_basketball_pda101.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=205&hc=228&q=70&sig=x5fgCl1A1EFLu1UXGp.bbQ--]; YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window,load,YAHOO.Sports.articleLazyLoadCarousel.init); 1 of 5 Sac-Por Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();
Aldridge hit yet another layup and added a free throw to give Portland an89-85 cushion with 1:37 left.
Tyreke Evans(notes) had 19 points and Thompson added 18 for the Kings, who losttheir seventh straight on the road.
Brandon Roy(notes) had 25 points and a season-high 10 assists for Portland.
The Blazers started Andre Miller(notes) at point guard rather than Steve Blake(notes).Such a move had been speculated since Portland signed Miller as a free agent inthe offseason. Miller had four points.
Blazers coach Nate McMillan was back on the bench, after sitting out theteam’s recent four-game road trip because of surgery to repair a rupturedAchilles’ tendon. He sported a walking cast.
McMillan had stepped in to practice with the injury-depleted Trail Blazerson Dec. 4 when he injured his ankle. Assistant Dean Demopoulos served asPortland’s head coach on the 1-3 road trip.
Portland’s injured list is lengthy. Starting forward Nicolas Batum(notes) was lostjust before the start of the season because of shoulder surgery, forward TravisOutlaw(notes) fractured his left foot in mid-November and forward Rudy Fernandez(notes) had aprocedure on his back to alleviate leg pain earlier this month.
But perhaps the injury that stung the most was center Greg Oden’s(notes) leftkneecap, which he broke during a game against Houston on Dec. 5. The 7-footformer 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 youngKings came back in the second, and took a 36-33 lead on Spencer Hawes’(notes) bankshot.
The Kings pushed the lead to 51-40 on former Blazer Ime Udoka’s(notes) 3-pointerlate in the first half.
The Blazers chipped away in the third quarter, tying it at 56 on Aldridge’sdunk. Portland went up 62-60 on Martell Webster’s(notes) dunk.
Portland’s lead was short-lived, and Sacramento went up 69-66 on Thompson’sjumper, then extended it with Evans’ layup and Omri Casspi’s(notes) dunk.
Sacramento had a 73-66 lead going into the final quarter, but Portlandnarrowed it to 78-76 on Jerryd Bayless’(notes) layup. The Blazers could have comecloser 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 withAldridge’s alley-oop layup.
NOTES: The Blazers have won three straight over the Kings. … In additionto Batum, Outlaw, Fernandez and Oden, Blazers rookies Patty Mills (right foot)and Jeff Pendergraph(notes) (hip) are also injured. With the exception of Oden, allwatched from the Blazers bench on Tuesday night in street clothes.
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