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Aldridge's offensive explosion leads Portland over Spurs

Feb 2, 2011 - 6:00 AM Portland, OR (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge posted a career-high 40 points to go with 11 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers topped the San Antonio Spurs, 99-86, at the Rose Garden.

Wesley Matthews added 21 points and Andre Miller supplied 18 points with a game-high nine assists for Portland, which snapped a two-game skid.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 17 points and DeJuan Blair added 14 points with 12 rebounds for San Antonio, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Tim Duncan and Richard Jefferson scored 15 and 10 points, respectively, in the loss.

After Gary Neal's three-pointer tied the game at 78 with 8:15 remaining, the Blazers took control and never looked back. The Portland surge began with a Aldridge layup at 7:33 that preceded three missed three's from the Blazers.

Matthew's connected on a driving finger roll layup off an Aldridge steal to give Portland an 82-78 lead, and Aldridge added another layup, this time off an alley oop from Miller, to give the Blazers a 94-82 edge with 2:12 remaining.

Aldridge led the way with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first quarter, as the Blazers held a 24-22 lead after one. The Spurs shot 50 percent from the field in the second quarter, and Blair added 10 points on 5-of-6 from the field to give San Antonio a 52-47 lead at the break.

Portland shot 47.1 percent from the field and Aldridge added nine more points in the third quarter to send the game into the fourth quarter tied at 71-71.

Game Notes

Nicolas Batum added eight points and six rebounds for the victors, who shot 50.7 percent from the field...George Hill added 10 points in a reserve role for San Antonio...Aldridge also made a career high 16 field goals...Portland shot 21-of-24 from the charity stripe.