Sabonis scores 32 in Blazers victory

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Portland Trail Blazers left no 
doubt that they will be in the NBA playoffs while the Golden State 
Warriors left no doubt that they will not. 

Arvydas Sabonis scored a season-high 32 points in just 24 minutes 
and Damon Stoudamire recorded his fourth career triple-double as 
the Trail Blazers clinched a playoff spot with a 122-91 rout of the 
hapless Warriors. 

Portland (48-28) moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Phoenix (46-29) for the 
sixth spot in the Western Conference. It clinched its 19th 
consecutive postseason berth, the longest current streak of any 
team, as the Trail Blazers ended a three-game skid. 

"We obviously needed a win," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. 
"Our guys came out with a lot of energy and played a tremendous 
first quarter for us. It set the tone and we had a great ball game 
all the way around." 

The Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak and won for 
just the sixth time in 16 games. The win came hours after reserve 
forward Shawn Kemp volunteered for treatment under the NBA's anti-
drug program. 

"We love Shawn and we're with him all the way," Stoudamire said. 
"We want him to handle his business and not even worry about the 
basketball side of it. It's a personal issue and nobody wants to 
get in the man's business, so we just kind of steer clear from 
that." 

A basket by Antawn Jamison with 5:42 left in the first quarter 
pulled Golden State within 15-10. The Trail Blazers went on a 17-3 
run, featuring a pair of 3-pointers by Steve Smith, for a 32-13 
advantage with 2 1/2 minutes left. 

Portland led 38-17 at the end of one quarter and a dunk by Dale 
Davis capped the first-half scoring as the Trail Blazers went into 
the locker room ahead, 67-36. 

A basket by Stoudamire gave Portland its largest lead at 89-42 with 
6:22 left in the third quarter. 

Sabonis made 11-of-12 shots and also grabbed 10 rebounds while 
Smith scored 21 points for Portland, which matched its highest 
output set in another 122-91 victory over the Warriors on March 3. 
"Tonight, we didn't play a playoff-caliber team," Portland forward 
Scottie Pippen said. "This game tonight was not a major look at 
where we are as a team right now. The Warriors are a team that's 
not even in the playoffs if they win 10 games in a row." 

Stoudamire finished with 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in 
registering the first triple-double by a Trail Blazer since Rod 
Strickland had 26 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds at Phoenix in 
February 1995. 

"I'm happy about the triple-double but getting the win was most 
important becasue we haven't done that in a while," Stoudamire 
said. "When you're my size, you have to get the ball to bounce your 
way on rebounds in order to get a triple-double and that was 
happening for me tonight." 

The Trail Blazers, who shot 60 percent (47-of-79), used their 
reserves almost exclusively in the second half as the bench 
outscored Golden State's, 62-33. Davis was the fourth Blazer in 
double figures with 10 points off the bench. 

Rookie Paul McPherson scored a season-high 22 points for Golden 
State, which fell for the 17th time in its last 18 games. The 
Warriors, who next face league-leading San Antonio on Sunday, were 
blown out in their last game as well, a 108-78 loss to Milwaukee on 
Wednesday. 

"We didn't play too well," Golden State coach Dave Cowens said. 
"We just couldn't get on track early in the game. They took us out 
of any plays that we wanted to run." 

Rookie Chris Porter made just 5-of-20 shots for 14 points while 
Jamison turned in a 4-of-15 shooting performance for 13 points. The 
Warriors shot 35 percent (33-of-95) and were outrebounded, 47-45. 

The Trail Blazers have won the last seven meetings.