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NBA
Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers beat Nets 97-87 without Aldridge, Batum

AP

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Missing their two starting forwards could have been a problem for the Portland Trail Blazers. Instead, it was an opportunity.

Damian Lillard had 28 points and 10 assists to lead the Blazers to a 97-87 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night, despite the absences of LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum.

Three-time All-Star Aldridge was out with an upper respiratory illness. Batum missed his third game with a bruised knee. Coach Terry Stotts inserted little-used Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard into their places in the lineup.

Fortified by strong bench play, Portland didn't miss a beat.

"The contributions of everybody off the bench — it was definitely a team win." Stotts said. "It just shows the young guys are getting better."

Brook Lopez led Brooklyn with 21 points, matching up against twin brother Robin for the first time in two years. Joe Johnson added 20 points and Deron Williams had 19 for the Nets, who were coming off losses to Phoenix and Golden State.

Reserve center Chris Kaman scored 12 for Portland and Leonard had a career-high 12 rebounds.

The Blazers have won four straight.

They carried a double-digit lead until late in the fourth quarter, when Kevin Garnett made two free throws and Mirza Teletovic scored at the hoop to get Brooklyn within 88-82. However, Wesley Matthews countered with a 3-pointer for Portland and the Nets got no closer.

"At the end of the game we were right there, we got to where we wanted to get," Brook Lopez said. "We just didn't finish."

The Blazers went on an 11-2 run at the end of the first quarter to take a 24-15 lead. Williams scored Brooklyn's first 10 points of the second, but the Nets failed to close the gap and Portland took a 50-39 lead into the half.

Lillard and Robin Lopez each scored eight points in the third for Portland, with Lillard giving Portland a 66-53 lead with a 3-pointer midway through the quarter.

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TIP-INS

Nets: Nets coach Lionel Hollins was a guard on the Trail Blazers' 1976-77 NBA championship team and his No. 14 jersey is retired in the Moda Center rafters. . The Nets were 16 of 17 from the free throw line.

Trail Blazers: Aldridge is the third Blazers player, after Steve Blake and Leonard, to miss a game this season due to illness. . Robin Lopez had 10 points and seven rebounds. He is 5-3 in NBA games against Brook.

UNSELFISH

The Blazers tallied 26 assists and have finished with 20 or more in all 10 games this season. They are fourth in the NBA with 24 assists per game. "I think we moved around well," Lillard said. "We moved without the ball. We made hard cuts and made them chase us and guys made shots."

BEHIND THE ARC

Brooklyn finished 1 of 19 on 3-pointers. The Nets missed their first 17 3s until Williams made one with 18.3 seconds left in the game.

UP NEXT

Nets: Host Miami on Monday.

Trail Blazers: Host New Orleans on Monday.

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