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Jackson's return sparks Bobcats over Blazers

Mar 12, 2011 - 4:12 AM Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Stephen Jackson returned from a three-game absence and led the Bobcats with 29 points and 10 rebounds as Charlotte topped Portland, 97-92, at Time Warner Cable Arena.

"We just have to find a way to play like this on the road," Jackson said. "Every game counts and we just have to continue this."

D.J. Augustin posted 16 points and five assists while D.J. White added 16 points in a reserve role for Charlotte, which snapped a six-game skid. Gerald Henderson added 12 points while Dante Cunningham scored 11 on 5-of-6 from the field for the victors.

"I feel good about the guys that played tonight and the energy that they brought," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said.

Wesley Matthews paced the Trail Blazers with 20 points. Gerald Wallace, making his return to Charlotte since a deadline trade, added 13 points and nine rebounds in a reserve role while both Andre Miller and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15.

Aldridge grabbed 10 rebounds while Miller dished out nine assists, as Portland had a seven-game road winning streak snapped.

Jackson has been hampered with a strained left hamstring, but showed no signs of the injury as he scored 13 of Charlotte's first 16 points in the fourth quarter, and his jumper with eight minutes remaining helped turn a six-point deficit into a five point lead.

After the teams traded baskets, Cunningham, who was a part of the Wallace to Portland trade, connected on consecutive baskets to expand the Bobcats' lead to 86-77.

Miller's short layup with five minutes remaining started a 12-2 Blazers run that allowed them to reclaim the lead. Aldridge capped the spurt with 1-of-2 from the line just inside two minutes remaining, but a White basket and Jackson three-point play -- surrounding an Aldridge jumper -- gave Charlotte the lead.

All Portland could muster down the stretch was a 1-of-2 showing from the line from Matthews as Augustin and White both iced the game with pairs from the charity stripe.

"We were not sharp throughout the game," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "When you try to flip a switch and turn it on, a lot of the time in this game it does not happen. I thought that was how we played."

Patty Mills' three-pointer capped a back-and-forth first quarter as the Blazers took a slim 25-22 lead after the opening 12 minutes. Portland widened its advantage to as high as eight in the second quarter but the Bobcats ended the half on an 12-5 run, sending the game into the break tied at 45.

Portland held the Bobcats to 19 points on 26.3 percent from the field in the third quarter as it took a 70-64 lead into the final stanza.

Game Notes

Charlotte capped a three-game homestand and will now hit the road for a four- game trek. The Bobcats will visit Toronto, Houston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio in the trip...Wallace was the last original member of the Bobcats' inaugural season and is the franchises' only All-Star...The Bobcats are now 17-16 at home this season...Portland is now 2-1 on a four-game road trip that will conclude in Atlanta on Saturday...Nicolas Batum scored 13 and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss.