Warriors run out of fight in the end

Summary: Golden State stays ahead of, or close to, the Blazers until a
fourth-quarter burst gives Portland a 92-83 victory

If this were another lockout-shortened season, the Trail Blazers would
be starting the playoffs in a few days with the best record in the NBA.

Having to wait nine more weeks might not change the Blazers' position.
But only if they play better and less raggedly than they did Tuesday 
night.

Portland, on the court for the first time in six days because of the 
All-Star break, needed 33/4 quarters to put away Golden State 92- 83 
at The Arena in Oakland.

Arvydas Sabonis' 21 points and a season-high 16 rebounds led the Blazers.

"That was an ugly game," Sabonis said. "(Wednesday against Golden State)
I think we will play like a different team."

Last May, the Blazers finished the 50-game regular season at 35- 15. 
That gave them the Pacific Division championship but was not enough 
to get home-court advantage in the playoffs over San Antonio, which 
ousted Portland in the Western Conference finals.

With 32 regular-season games remaining, the Blazers are 39-11 and have
won five in a row. They are a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers,
who are second in the Pacific Division at 38-11 after their 88-76 win 
Tuesday in Chicago.

Scottie Pippen and Steve Smith, who was 1-for-6 shooting, sat out the 
fourth quarter as Portland added five points to its shaky four- point 
lead.

"We should have sent a better message to (the Warriors)," Pippen said.
"They're going to come into the Rose Garden with a lot of confidence."

Portland shot 36.8 percent from the field.

"Both teams missed a lot of easy shots," Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy 
said.

The Blazers' defense shut down Golden State in the fourth quarter, 
however, and Portland's size in the middle was a big problem for the 
Warriors much of the night.

"We didn't play at all like we wanted. But defensively, we played well.
That's the main thing," Dunleavy said.

The Blazers, who have won 11 of their last 12, improved to a league-best
21-8 on the road.

Portland's 39 victories have come by an average of 11.9 points.

Small forward Donyell Marshall scored 23 points in what was the fourth
consecutive loss for the Warriors, 12-36 and 7-22 against Pacific 
Division opponents.

The Warriors have lost four in a row at Portland. The Blazers will be 
seeking their ninth sweep in 15 sets of back-to-back games. A sign of 
their depth: The Blazers are 11-4 in the first of back-to-back games and 
12-2 the next night.

The last time the Blazers and Warriors played, on Dec. 23 at the Rose 
Garden, Portland led by 17 in the second quarter and by as many as 29 in 
the third and won 111-91. Four days later, general manager Garry St. 
Jean took over as coach for P.J. Carlesimo.

The Warriors played hard this time, and the Blazers did not play nearly
as well. Portland's problems were more than rust from the layoff.

Golden State center Erick Dampier and power forward Jason Caffey got 
their fourth fouls in the third quarter, and Brian Grant's tip- in with 
0.7 seconds left gave Portland a 73-69 lead.

Throughout the second half, whenever the Warriors were about to put even
more pressure on Portland, they seemed to step out of bounds or have the
ball go off their fingers.

Bonzi Wells' three-pointer from the corner gave the Blazers an 88- 77 
lead with 4:17 left, and Portland's defense was solid enough throughout 
the fourth quarter to pull the Blazers through as the Warriors' shooting 
legs began to give out.

"If we could have executed a little better and played a little harder,
we could have won this game," Marshall said. "They were in shock a 
little bit that we came out and played this hard and executed the way 
we did. We just couldn't make that last push."

Notes: League leader Rasheed Wallace got his 22nd technical after a 
comment in the third quarter to official Violet Palmer, who had called a 
foul on Arvydas Sabonis. Wallace was 4 of 16 from the field. . . . Wells 
played 25 minutes, one shy of his career high. . . . Sabonis tied his 
season high of 17 field-goal attempts and made eight. "Sabonis gave us 
some good inside plays tonight," said Pippen. "We looked to him, because 
he was making shots and getting fouled."