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Gooden leads Bucks in rout of Trail Blazers

Mar 21, 2012 - 12:00 PM Portland, OR (Sports Network) - The Bucks finished with six players in double figures, including Drew Gooden, who poured in 19 points to lead Milwaukee to a 116-87 blowout of the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden on Tuesday.

Carlos Delfino tallied 16 points, while Mike Dunleavy, Beno Udrih and Brandon Jennings netted 15 points apiece for the Bucks. Monta Ellis finished with 14 points and nine assists as Milwaukee notched its sixth consecutive victory.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews scored 21 points apiece and pulled down 12 and nine rebounds, respectively. Raymond Felton finished with 18 points to go with nine assists for Portland, which has now dropped four of its last five.

"Too many crooked numbers up here on the stat sheet," remarked Portland interim head coach Kaleb Canales, who was making his home debut. "We didn't do a good job defensively tonight. You have to give them credit. They are a hot team and they played like they've been playing and we didn't take them out of their game."

Gooden and Dunleavy hit back-to-back three-pointers to cap the scoring in the first frame, as the Bucks to a 25-23 edge into the second.

Milwaukee opened the second on an 11-1 surge that Matthews finally quelled with a triple to bring the margin to 36-27.

The visitors quickly responded as Delfino sank consecutive treys and later added a layup to close out a 12-5 run to extend the lead to 48-32 with four minutes left in the second.

Gooden would finish the first half with 17 points, three rebounds and two assists to give the Bucks a 54-43 lead heading into the locker room.

With the lead down to nine and over eight minutes left in the third, Ellis connected on a three-point try, sparking a 13-0 surge that Jennings would cap with a triple of his own to give the Bucks a comfortable 71-49 lead just before the midway point of the third frame.

"We passed the ball well, we shot the ball well and played pretty good defense," said Bucks head coach Scott Skiles. "Our only issue was rebounding, but we were able to build a big enough lead, pull away and really take control."

The difference stood at 18, 82-64, after three, and the Bucks scored the first eight of the fourth quarter to put any thoughts of a comeback to rest, as the visitors cruised the rest of the way for the double-digit victory.

Game Notes

Milwaukee kept pace with the Knicks, who won on Tuesday, and remain just a half-game back for the final playoff spot in the East...Portland fell 3 1/2 games out of eighth in the West as the Rockets were victorious on Tuesday...Portland will welcome the Grizzlies on Thursday, while Milwaukee begins a back-to-back-to-back at home against Boston on Thursday.