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Turkoglu, Magic stagger Blazers

Dec 10, 2008 - 6:48 AM By James Reddick PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Hedo Turkoglu hit an off-balance 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second left to give the Orlando Magic a 109-108 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

Turkoglu took a pass from Dwight Howard and launched his long-range shot that banked in as the Magic scored the final nine points of the game to end Portland's unbeaten stretch at home this season.

"If you're them, you've got to roll your eyes, because we threw one in," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "But we had to do some good things and show a lot of resolve ... to give ourselves a chance to throw one in."

After trailing for much of the game, the Trail Blazers seemingly took control in the fourth. In one run, LaMarcus Aldridge scored eight straight points, including a jumper from the baseline with 6:06 remaining to push the Blazers' lead to 97-89.

Rashard Lewis' three-point play with 4:10 remaining brought the Magic within 100-97. Brandon Roy scored the next six points, including a fadeaway jumper with a hand in his face to give the Blazers a 106-100 lead.

Aldridge hit a 19-footer that would prove to be the Blazers' final points of the game.

"We definitely felt like we had the win," Portland backup center Joel Przybilla said. "If we did the right things down the stretch, we would have won."

Jameer Nelson and Lewis then hit back-to-back 3-three pointers to bring the Magic back to within two.

"I just told the guys, 'It's one play at a time,' and that is what we did," Nelson said.

With four seconds remaining, Aldridge appeared to hit a layup to give the Blazers a four-point lead, but the shot was waved off due to a shot-clock violation. That set the stage for Turkoglu's heroics.

Orlando was led by Lewis with 27 points. Turkoglu scored 24 and Nelson added 21 for Orlando, which was 14-of-27 (52 percent) from long range.

Howard saw his streak of eight consecutive double-doubles snapped as he had 14 points and seven rebounds. Howard also didn't block a shot for the first time this season.

Roy netted 30 points for Portland. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with a double-double, going for 25 points and 13 rebounds.

The Blazers were trailing, 81-73, when they went on a 12-0 tear that bridged the third and fourth quarters to assume the lead. Sergio Rodriguez hit four free throws to trigger the spree, then found Rudy Fernandez for a 3-pointer.

Fernandez followed with a pair of foul shots as Portland closed within 81-80 at the end of the third.

The Spanish connection of Rodriguez and Fernandez picked up where it left off at the start of the final quarter. Fernandez hit a 3-point shot off a feed from Rodriguez, who capped the surge with a 3-pointer from 24 feet to make it 85-81.

Portland did not have a shot blocked in the game. It hit 40-of-77 (52 percent) for the game and was 20-of-30 at one point in the second half. Four reserves reached double figures in scoring for the Blazers, who boasted a 45-18 advantage off the bench.

Orlando shot 39-of-77 (51 percent) but was on fire from long range.

"This was really disappointing," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought we had the game under control. But we didn't execute.

"On that last possession, we didn't get a shot off. That shouldn't happen, and there's no excuse for it. We've been in a lot of close games and we've done really well in those situations. But tonight we just didn't execute."