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Blazers pull out win in Orlando

Mar 8, 2011 - 5:09 AM Orlando, FL (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 24 points and Andre Miller finished with 15 points and seven assists, as the Portland Trail Blazers held on for an 89-85 win over the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.

Wesley Matthews chipped in with 13 points and Gerald Wallace added nine points and 10 boards off the bench for the Trail Blazers, who have won six straight on the road for the first time since February 18-March 2, 2002. Portland has won three straight overall.

Jason Richardson went 4-for-5 from three-point territory and ended with a team-best 22 points for Orlando, which has dropped two in a row after winning its previous four. Hedo Turkoglu and Ryan Anderson each netted 13 points in defeat.

The Magic were without superstar center Dwight Howard, who was suspended by the NBA for one game without pay for receiving his league-high 16th technical foul of the season in Friday's 89-81 loss to Chicago. Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game upon receiving his 16th technical of the regular season.

"We were able to get to the basket a little bit easier without having that big guy down there to block shots," Miller said of the absence of Howard.

Deadlocked at 79-79 with nearly seven minutes left in the contest, Wallace's tip-in off a Miller miss put the Trail Blazers in front. Aldridge then made a layup and short jumper to give the visitors an 85-79 lead with 4:18 to play.

After Wallace made 1-of-2 from the stripe, Portland was ahead by eight with 1:42 left, but a free throw and three-pointer by Turkoglu quickly cut the deficit to four, 89-85 with 1:21 to play.

Neither team scored in the remaining time and the Blazers held on for the four-point victory.

"We're not going to let a game like this frustrate us," Anderson said.

Portland led 24-19 after the opening 12 minutes and the game went back-and- forth for the entire second period.

Tied at 40-all late in the quarter, Nicolas Batum hit a three-pointer and medium-range jumper sandwiched around a Miller basket to give Portland a seven-point advantage with under a minute remaining and it would take a 47-43 edge into the break.

The Blazers stretched their lead to 13 after an Aldridge free throw with 4:02 left in the third, but Gilbert Arenas' running bank shot finished off a 12-0 run to get Orlando within one at 65-64 with 1:29 remaining. Portland held a 70-66 edge after three quarters.

Game Notes

Batum finished with nine points for the Trail Blazers, who shot 43.2 percent from the field and 8-of-25 from three-point range...Anderson added seven rebounds for Orlando, which made 46.5 percent of its shots and 11-of-22 from beyond the arc.