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LaMarcus makes history in Trail Blazers win at Toronto

01/20/12

  1. Written by: KevinHudson


    LaMarcus Aldridge scored 33 points and grabbed 23 rebounds for his first-ever 30/20 performance as the Trail Blazers defeated the Toronto Raptors 94-84 Friday in front of 17,537 at the Air Canada Centre.

    "He was just a monster out there tonight both in the paint as well as on the boards for us. I think he is a guy that has the ability to average a double-double," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought tonight he made up his mind that he was going to go to the boards and that we weren’t going to lose this game. You could see it on his face when he was talking to his team."

    Aldridge set a new career high in rebounds and a season high in points while recording his fourth double-double of the season. He is the first Trail Blazer in franchise history to record 33 points and 23 rebounds in a game and the first to record more than 31 points and 21 rebounds since Maurice Lucas (35/22) on Feb. 3, 1977.

    Aldridge becomes the sixth Trail Blazer ever with a 30-point, 20-rebound game (LeRoy Ellis, Sidney Wicks, Bill Walton, Lucas, Zach Randolph).

    "I always say he doesn’t get the attention that he deserves because we are all the way up in the Pacific Northwest," said Trail Blazers center Marcus Camby. "His game speaks volumes and tonight just solidified that he is the best power forward in the game. If not, he is definitely in the consideration. I am happy for everything he achieved tonight."

    Portland (9-6) fell behind 4-0 early, then rattled off 11 unanswered points to take an 11-4 lead. The Trail Blazers led the rest of the way and by as many as 21 points before a strong second-half showing by Toronto whittled down the final margin.

    "Portland is a good team, they are going to be in the money at the end of the year.  They are going to be one of the top teams that you are going to be talking about," said Toronto coach Dwane Casey. "Nate’s a great friend and a good coach, and that team is very, very talented."

    The Trail Blazers saw the return of Camby to the starting lineup after the center missed three games with a sprained ankle. Camby and Gerald Wallace joined Aldridge in double-digit rebounding with 10 each as Portland out-rebounded the Raptors 55-40.

    "When Camby is out there and playing well for us it makes a huge difference. He clogs the middle, he rebounds the ball and he makes assists," McMillan said. "He brings toughness to the floor and I thought a few times tonight when we got a little stagnant he challenged the team to continue to play and play hard."

    Raymond Felton showed signs of breaking out of his shooting slump in the contest, going 6-for-9 from the field including 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc to finish with 14 points and five assists.

    "Offensively he found a rhythm and was knocking down some of his shots. I thought he was much better picking up the ball, working the ball," McMillan said of Felton. "Offensively in the first half he got us in the tempo we wanted."

    Jamal Crawford led the bench with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting and Nicolas Batum added nine points, two rebounds and a steal. Craig Smith was productive off the bench as well, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds in less than nine minutes.

    Toronto (4-12) was led in scoring by forward James Johnson with 23 points, in rebounds by Ed Davis with 10 and in assists by Jose Calderon with 13. DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points, 14 of them coming in a 28-point third quarter for the Raptors. 

    Portland concludes its six-game road trip Saturday in Detroit against the Pistons. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on Comcast SportsNet. 750 AM The Game and NBA Audio League Pass will have the call.

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