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Oden leads Blazers past Bucks

Jan 20, 2009 - 7:24 AM By Daniel Cochran PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Another day, another home victory for the Portland Trail Blazers.

On the strength of big games by Marcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, the Blazers improved to 15-4 at home, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 102-85 on Monday night.

Aldridge, who scored the game's opening field goal, went 9-of-14 from the field and finished with 24 points. Greg Oden had the best game of his rookie season, scoring a career-high 24 points while bringing in 15 rebounds.

""It feels good. I feel confident in myself when I'm out there on the floor and I'm playing," Oden said. "Today I got the chance to score some and I took advantage of it."

Portland pulled away in the fourth quarter, extending their lead to 75-65 on the strength of consecutive scoring drives from Oden.

"In the Sacramento game Jason Thompson had his coming out party on us, Brian Skinner and the Clippers, and tonight it was Greg Oden," Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said. "We're not getting our bodies on people enough. We battled back, got it to five, then we just disintegrated on the glass and they really took advantage of us."

Travis Outlaw added 17 points and rookie Rudy Fernandez had 13 for the Blazers.

Charlie Villanueva and Richard Jefferson each scored 23 points for Milwaukee.

"We have been inconsistent, we just haven't be consistent," Jefferson said. "The last couple of weeks we've been struggled.

"We're halfway through the season, we've established we are going to play hard every single night, now it's about getting that mental edge and competing on a higher level."

The Blazers ended the first half with a narrow five point lead, as each team shot just 1-7 from the arc. The Blazers outrebounded the Bucks 25 to 13 in the first two quarters.

In the third quarter, the Blazers extended their lead to as many as 16 points, capitalizing on eight personal fouls committed by Milwaukee.

The Bucks were quick to respond.

On the strength of three three-point plays from Richard Jefferson, Milwaukee mounted a 16-6 run that narrowed the deficit, 71-64. Jefferson quickly found himself in foul trouble, though, and the Bucks' comeback dissipated in the fourth quarter.