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Trail Blazers dethrown Kings
PORTLAND, Ore. — There was no wild celebration or trash talking after Portland extended its winning streak to 10 games by beating the team with the NBA’s best record.
Instead, the Trail Blazers’ locker room was filled with a sense of quiet confidence after a 107-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
“We are going to take this win and cherish it for a moment,” said Scottie Pippen, who had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. “But we realize that everybody’s coming in and trying to stop what we have going.”
Bonzi Wells scored 20 points, and Dale Davis had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Blazers, who are 23-5 in their last 28 games and have won 11 of 12 since the All-Star break.
“We just have a bunch of guys playing with a lot of energy,” Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. “Everyone that steps in the game plays hard, no matter how many minutes they play. I think that’s the difference in our playing early on and playing now.”
Peja Stojakovic had 26 points and seven rebounds for Sacramento, which leads the NBA with a 42-17 record, but lost its second straight game. Chris Webber had 24 points and eight rebounds.
“We made a run in the fourth, but we couldn’t get the loose balls or make the key shots,” Webber said. “Pippen was tremendous and made huge plays on both ends of the court. Pip is the most underrated player in the game. If we had him, we’d win the championship.”
In other NBA games, Philadelphia beat Boston 100-94; Atlanta defeated Memphis 95-76; and Utah topped Denver 100-82.
The Blazers pulled away at the end of the third quarter with a 15-5 run that included five points in a nine-second span.
Damon Stoudamire drove the lane and made a shot high off the glass for two of his 16 points. Pippen then stole the inbounds pass, stepped back and hit a 3-pointer.
“Tonight was one of those games where we needed to make it a statement game,” Pippen said. “We can compete with some of the best teams out there.”
Following a timeout by the Kings, Wells stole the ball and went the length of the court for a dunk.
Portland led 83-69 by the end of the quarter and the Kings never seriously threatened again.
“I don’t know what Maurice did to those guys, but they are a different team,” Kings guard Bobby Jackson said. “Pippen was incredible, and we didn’t defend well enough to get back in the game.”
Rasheed Wallace scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and reserve Ruben Patterson scored 12 points for Portland.
“We did not defend them well enough to win the game,” Kings coach Rick Adelman said. “They beat us off the dribble, they hit open outside shots. They took advantage of mistakes we made.”
Led by Stoudamire, who had nine in the first quarter, the Blazers went on a 10-2 run midway through the period. The Kings’ starting five combined to shoot just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) in the first quarter, while the Blazers shot 56.5 percent at the start.
Sacramento improved its shooting in the second and rallied within two points with 1:32 left on a 6-0 run.
Portland’s Shawn Kemp was cleared to play by the NBA following an indefinite suspension — which lasted five games — for violating terms of the league’s anti-drug agreement. He was scoreless in eight minutes.
Celtics 100, 76ers 94
Paul Pierce scored 28 points and Antoine Walker added 17 to lead Boston to a win at Philadelphia.
Allen Iverson, coming off consecutive 40-point performances, scored 28, but missed 22 of 30 shots.
Boston had lost four straight and 10 of 15. It was the Celtics’ first victory since trading Joe Johnson, Milt Palacio and a first-round pick to Phoenix for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers.
Eric Snow and Derrick Coleman each had 16 for the Sixers, who had won three in a row.
Hawks 95, Grizzlies 76
Toni Kukoc matched a season high with 24 points, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 23 as Atlanta beat Memphis.
Memphis has lost eight straight, 10 of 11 and 21 of 24. Dropping to 0-7 in Atlanta, the Grizzlies lowered their road record to 6-26.