Blazers end trip against struggling Pacers

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers will close out a five-game road trip Saturday against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Trail Blazers are 2-2 on the eastern trek and have lost back-to-back games following a five-game winning streak. In Friday night's 115-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 of his 35 points in the first quarter and grabbed nine rebounds.

Aldridge made 15-of-24 shots and Damian Lillard also scored 35 points to go with six assists and five boards. Lillard had 18 points in the fourth quarter and was 13-of-21 from the field for the Blazers, who shot 48.9 percent and were outrebounded, 47-37.

"We weren't good enough defensively," said Lillard, who made 7-of-11 3- pointers. "We started off the game well...but they just got it going."

Chicago made 50 percent for the game and scored 30 or more points in both the second (35) and fourth (33) quarters.

Portland is 7-4 on the road and will return to the Rose City to face San Antonio and Milwaukee.

The Trail Blazers are 13-2 when scoring 100 or more points and had won their first 10 games against Eastern Conference opponents until Friday's loss to the Bulls.

Indiana hopes to put an end to its seven-game losing streak Saturday and suffered a 106-94 setback at Toronto Friday night.

Solomon Hill scored 16 points and both Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Watson posted 13 for the Pacers. David West tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a losing cause.

"I thought we played better," said West, who is seven points shy of 12,000 in his career. "The effort was there."

The Pacers will also host Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on this short homestand and are 4-7 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They have lost two in a row in front of the home crowd.

Pacers guard C.J. Miles left Friday's game with a bruised knee and is questionable for Saturday. Miles is in his first season with the Pacers and is averaging 9.1 points.

Portland recently defeated Indiana, 88-82, on Dec. 4 at the Moda Center, where Lillard and Aldridge scored 23 and 18 points, respectively. Stuckey had 16 points in that one for the Pacers, who have beaten the Blazers four straight times in Indy.

Aldridge is averaging 23.7 points in the last four games against the Pacers.