76ers 101 - 110 Trail Blazers
Final
  for this game

76ers invade Portland's Rose Garden

Mar 19, 2011 - 2:46 PM (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia 76ers hope to polish off a five-game road trip tonight on a winning note against the Portland Trail Blazers in Rip City.

The Sixers are 2-2 so far on the road swing and won their second straight game with Friday's 102-80 drubbing of the Sacramento Kings at ARCO Arena. Jrue Holiday had 15 points, Lou Williams scored 14 and Andre Iguodala filled the stat sheet with 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Elton Brand had 10 points and Thaddeus Young provided nine and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which is 19-8 over its previous 27 games. Since starting the season 3-13, the Sixers have gone 33-20 and own a 14-22 record as the guest.

"It's nice this point in the year to be playing for a good group of guys and such an unselfish group of guys," said center Spencer Hawes. "And [to have] that ultimate goal to look forward to and still be playing with so much on the line at this point in the year."

Philadelphia moved into the sixth slot in the Eastern Conference -- just a half-game ahead of idle New York -- and is three games behind Atlanta for the fifth spot.

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers are set to close out a three-game homestand and have won the first two tests of the residency, including Thursday's 111-70 pounding of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Gerald Wallace netted 17 points for Portland, which is 23-10 at home and has won six of its last eight games overall. The Blazers topped Dallas to open the homestand and are unbeaten in the previous three games at the Rose Garden.

"The whole focus tonight was on defense, and our defense made it easy on us," said Aldridge, who is averaging 25.2 points and 9.3 boards per game since Dec. 15 (43 games).

Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum both netted 14 points in a winning effort.

Portland is percentage points ahead of New Orleans for sixth in the Western Conference standings and 1 1/2 games behind fifth-seeded Denver.

Philadelphia handed the Blazers an 88-79 loss at Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 30 this season behind 18 points from Brand. The Sixers have won four of five and six of their last eight matchups with Portland, and are 7-3 over the past 10 encounters in the Rose City.






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