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Blazers vs. Clippers Final Score: 126-122; Portland Blows 19 Point Lead to Los Angeles

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Portland threw away a 19 point lead with a chance to win their division Wednesday night at home.

By RyanASterling
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Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points, Nicolas Batum had 21 points, but the Portland Trail Blazers lost a big lead and the game versus the Los Angeles Clippers 126-122 Wednesday night at Moda Center.

The first quarter was a display of dominance on the part of LaMarcus Aldridge.  Aldridge shot 7-of-9 from the field in the quarter for 16 points, tearing up anything and everything the Clippers did to stop him.  The Blazers as a team shot 64% from the field, with Damian Lillard, Batum, and Robin Lopez each scoring five, and Portland led by as many as ten.  With Aldridge drilling a shot at the buzzer, the Blazers led by seven after one.

In the battle of the benches, Portland blasted the Los Angles bench to start the second quarter.  The Clippers missed eight of their first ten shots, and the Blazers responded with a 14-2 run to extend the lead to as many as 19.  Once the starters came back in, Los Angles rallied behind Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.  Portland hit right back with ten in the quarter from Batum and seven from Arron Afflalo, and the Blazers took a 13 point lead into halftime.

Portland cooled off slightly in the third quarter, allowing the Clippers to get back into the ball game, closing to as close as five.  Batum had six, Lillard had five, and Portland got the lead back to 11 before tempers erupted at the end of the period.  Chris Kaman grabbed an offensive rebound, but had the ball stripped away by Paul.  Kaman responded by shoving Paul in the back to the ground, starting a brief scrum.  During the scrum, Glen Davis threw himself onto the floor in an attempt to get Aldridge ejected, which the referees promptly ignored.  Kaman was assessed a flagrant one foul, and Paul would total a four point play to close the gap.  Portland would retain a seven point lead after three.

The foul seemed to galvanize the Clippers, especially on the defensive end of the floor.  Portland scored just eight points for the first six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, and a three point barrage by J.J. Redick, Griffin, and Paul led a 22-5 run for Los Angeles.  Paul scored twelve of his 41 in the fourth quarter as the Clippers expanded their lead to 11.  Portland had one final rally, cutting the lead back down to as little as two behind eight points by CJ McCollum, but simply ran out of time.  Blazers starters shot 3-of-12 in the final period.

McCollum led the bench with 13 points.  Kaman had eight points and seven rebounds.  Lillard had 18 points and 10 assists.

BOX SCORE

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