Associated Press ADVERTISING Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. — As time wound down in the Trail Blazers’ victory over the Oklahoma City, LaMarcus Aldridge was showered with shouts of “MVP! MVP!” from the Portland fans. Aldridge had a season-high 38 points
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — As time wound down in the Trail Blazers’ victory over the Oklahoma City, LaMarcus Aldridge was showered with shouts of “MVP! MVP!” from the Portland fans.
Aldridge had a season-high 38 points and added 13 rebounds in the Blazers’ 111-104 win Wednesday night that snapped the Thunder’s eight-game winning streak.
It was his ninth double-double and 15th game with at least 20 points this season. He made a career-high 17 field goals.
“Just surreal. It was humbling to have that moment here,” Aldridge said of the crowd’s reaction. “I’ve been here so long and I’ve had very few of those type of chants here. So that was fun. I thought that made the night complete for me.”
The victory gives the surprising Blazers a 16-3 record this season, best in the Western Conference and second only to Indiana overall. Portland has won 14 of its last 15 games, a stretch that includes an 11-game winning streak.
Nicolas Batum’s 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds to go all but sealed it for Portland, which had lost seven straight against Oklahoma City.
The Thunder led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Aldridge led a third-quarter rally and Portland built a 91-84 lead on consecutive 3-pointers from Dorell Wright and Damian Lillard with 7:58 left.
Russell Westbrook’s 3-pointer pulled the Thunder within 95-94 before Reggie Jackson’s two free throws gave them a short-lived lead with 5:34 to go. Aldridge hit a layup and a jumper to make it 105-100 for the Blazers.
Durant and Westbrook narrowed it again with consecutive baskets, but Batum’s 3-pointer made it 108-104 before Durant missed a 3 on the other end. The Blazers made free throws for the final margin.
Durant finished with 33 for the Thunder, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back after defeating Sacramento 97-95 Tuesday night. Westbrook had 21 points.
“He was shooting turnarounds from almost the 3-point line over the top of our bigs and knocking them down,” Durant said of Aldridge. “That’s what great players do, they come through in the clutch and make shots.”
Batum and Lillard added 14 points apiece for the Blazers, who were coming off a 106-102 victory over Indiana on Monday. Portland is 8-1 at home.
Aldridge scored 16 of his points in the third quarter, when the Blazers outscored the Thunder 35-21.
“I don’t know if I have the words, to be honest,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said of Aldridge’s night. “Offensively, obviously he can score. But I liked his toughness, I liked his leadership, I liked his competitive fire. As much as he played very well, it was a lot of the intangibles that I really appreciated from him tonight.”
Wright’s bank jumper evened the game at 27 to start the second quarter. It was close throughout the half, with Portland’s Batum on Durant much of the time.
Durant took off on a fast break for a dunk and added a free throw to give the Thunder a 55-47 lead, their biggest of the game to that point.
Westbrook attempted a 3-pointer and the refs called a foul on Portland’s Wesley Matthews, prompting an angry reaction from Stotts, who was given a technical, and the Thunder finished the half on a 9-0 for a 59-48 advantage.
Durant led all scorers in the half with 17 points.
“They hit a lot of tough 2s on us, shots we can live with,” Durant said. “But they made enough to beat us.”
One bright spot for the Blazers was center Robin Lopez, who had 12 points and five rebounds in the first half. Acquired by the Blazers from New Orleans in a three-team offseason trade, Lopez finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Batum’s 3 got the Blazers within 67-64 before Matthews’ layup got them within one midway through the third quarter. Batum’s pull-up jumper gave Portland a 70-69 lead, and Aldridge added a long jumper.
The Blazers clung to the lead until Durant’s jumper tied it at 78, but Aldridge answered with a turnaround jumper to cap a 10-point streak for the two-time All-Star.
“I’ve been saying it from the start — he’s the best power forward in the game,” Matthews said.
CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and the Cavaliers snapped the Denver Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak.
Tristan Thompson had a career-high 21 rebounds and 17 points for the Cavaliers, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
The Nuggets, playing the third game of six-game road trip, lost for the first time since Nov. 18. The trip began with a 14-point win in Toronto on Sunday and a 24-point victory in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Randy Foye led Denver with 16 points, while J.J. Hickson had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Anderson Varejao scored a season-high 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Cleveland, which recorded its largest margin of victory this season.
ATLANTA — Kyle Korver tied the NBA record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer and scored a season-high 23 points in the Hawks’ victory over the Clippers.
Korver, returning from a bruised rib that sidelined him the last four games, tied Dana Barros’ NBA 18-year-old record by hitting a 3-pointer in his 89th straight game. Barros set the mark during stints with Philadelphia and Boston from Dec. 23, 1994, to Jan. 10, 1996.
He made his first attempt in the game’s first minute and finished 6 for 9 beyond the arc.
Paul Millsap finished with 25 points and Al Horford added 21 to help the Hawks snap a two-game losing streak.
Blake Griffin scored 24 points and Chris Paul had 19 points and 11 assists as the Clippers lost their second straight.
HOUSTON — Eric Bledsoe had 20 points and seven assists to lead Phoenix over the Rockets.
PJ Tucker added 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with six rebounds.
Channing Frye had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, and Goran Dragic chipped in 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting for the Suns, who shot 45.6 percent from the field, including 45.8 percent from behind the arc.
Dwight Howard had 15 points and 18 rebounds, Aaron Brooks added 17 points and six assists, and Omri Casspi had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who lost their second straight game.
James Harden finished with 14 points, hitting 3 of 17 from the field and going 0 for 10 from behind the arc. Patrick Beverley had 12 points and eight rebounds.
SALT LAKE CITY — Paul George scored 19 points and Indiana returned to its defensive ways to defeat the Jazz in Utah for the first time since an 84-60 victory on Nov. 29, 2005.
Lance Stephenson scored 15 points, Luis Scola had 14 and Roy Hibbert added 13 points for the Pacers.
Indiana outscored the Jazz 27-19 in the fourth quarter and parlayed 14 Utah turnovers in 20 points.
Gordon Hayward’s 3-pointer cut the Indiana lead to 79-76 before the Pacers scored nine straight points, capped by West’s 20-foot jumper that just beat the shot clock, and never looked back.
Derrick Favors led Utah with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 boards for the Jazz, who had won three of their last four games.
NEW ORLEANS — Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks beat the Pelicans 100-97 Wednesday night.
Nowitzki gave Dallas the lead with a free throw to make the score 98-97 with 32.3 seconds left. He then got a piece of Eric Gordon’s driving floater, grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with 8 seconds left.
The Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson missed an open 3-pointer that would have tied it with 2 seconds left.
Reserve Vince Carter had 15 points for Dallas and Monta Ellis added 14 points.
Jrue Holiday had a season-high 26 points for the Pelicans, who played without injured forward Anthony Davis for the second consecutive game.
MILWAUKEE — Andre Drummond had 24 points and 19 rebounds and the Pistons rode a strong second-half performance to beat the Bucks.
Greg Monroe contributed 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons, who had three players with double-doubles and five score 15 or more points.
Ersan Ilyasov scored a season-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Bucks, who have lost 13 of 14. Khris Middleton added 14 points for Milwaukee.
Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings had 17 points and 11 assists in his return to Milwaukee.
