Published November 20, 2014
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 93-69 Saturday night, a little more than a week after the two teams pulled off a trade just minutes before the deadline.
Patty Mills made four 3-pointers for the Trail Blazers.
Gerald Henderson had 16 points for the Bobcats, who have lost four straight, all on the road.
The Blazers sent centers Joel Przybilla and Sean Marks, forward Dante Cunningham, and a pair of conditional first-round draft picks to Charlotte on Feb. 24 in exchange for Gerald Wallace, who was the last original member of the 7-year-old Bobcats. The deal was struck just seven minutes before the deadline.
Wallace, an All-Star last season, had seven points off the bench against his former team.
Przybilla was a fan favorite in Portland, where he had played since the 2004-05 season. He came into the game with 2:21 left in the first quarter to a standing ovation from the Rose Garden crowd. He fouled out with about a minute left in the game and was given another hearty ovation.
The Bobcats were without top scorer Stephen Jackson because of a sore left hamstring.
Jackson, who leads the Bobcats with an average of 19 points per game, was hurt in Friday night's 92-84 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He had eight points and two rebounds before leaving in the third quarter.
Dominic McGuire started in his place.
The Bobcats, coming off a 92-84 loss to the Lakers on Friday night, led by six points early, but the Blazers were on their heels for most of the first half.
Aldridge, the Western Conference player of the month for February, hit on a turnaround jumper that narrowed it to 29-28 with five minutes left, but D.J. Augustin followed with a 3-pointer for the Bobcats.
The Blazers finally went ahead 37-35 on Andre Miller's short jumper with 33 seconds left in the half. Wesley Matthews added a 3-pointer before time ran out for a 40-35 Portland lead.
Charlotte reclaimed the lead early in the second half on Augustin's reverse lay-in and a pull-up jumper to make it 45-42.
But Portland went on an 11-0 run, capped by Nicolas Batum's 3-pointer, to make it 53-45. The Blazers went up 60-48 on Mills' 3-pointer. Another one by Mills put Portland up 68-52.
Portland was coming off a 107-102 victory at Sacramento on Wednesday.
Notes: Ed Manning, who played for the Trail Blazers during Portland's first season in 1970-71, died Friday at a hospital in Texas. Manning, also a former assistant coach at Kansas, is the father of former Kansas and NBA star Danny Manning, currently an assistant for the Jayhawks. The Blazers held a moment of silence for him before the game. ... Charlotte has lost four straight to Portland. The Bobcats' 69 points was the lowest total the Blazers allowed this season.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/aldridge-scores-26-portland-routs-charlotte-93-69