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Aldridge powers Portland past TWolves

Jan 18, 2011 - 7:48 AM Portland, OR (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge scored a career-high 37 points with 12 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers resumed their dominance of the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 113-102 win at the Rose Garden.

Wesley Matthews finished with 23 points and Andre Miller added 15 points with 10 assists for Portland, which notched its 15th straight win over Minnesota.

"(Aldridge) is carrying this team. Without him, I don't know where we'd be right now," said Portland center Joel Przybilla.

Kevin Love recorded his 28th consecutive double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are just 2-20 on the road this season.

Down by as many as eight, the Trail Blazers rallied to take a 30-29 lead into the second quarter.

Michael Beasley, who missed two games with a sprained left ankle, nailed a three-pointer to give Minnesota a 42-37 midway through the frame, but Portland emerged with a 50-46 advantage at the break.

The Trail Blazers began to pull away in the third quarter, extending their lead to 86-69 when Rudy Fernandez knocked down a trey.

Minnesota closed to within eight at 100-92 with about four minutes to go in regulation, but Aldridge followed with a dunk before Matthews hit a three to put the game out of reach.

"We got off to a really good start, then we go through these periods where we start trying to do too much and we turn the basketball over," said Minnesota head coach Kurt Rambis.

Game Notes

Portland announced Monday that shooting guard Brandon Roy had successful arthroscopic surgery on both knees...The Timberwolves are 0-8 against the Northwest Division...Darko Milicic had 22 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota...Portland hasn't lost in this series since March 25, 2007.