Spurs and Timberwolves see their game postponed due to fire alert.
Behind LaMarcus Aldridge’s 38 points, the Portland Trail Blazers sealed a significant 111-104 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
The victory moves the Blazers to 16-3 for the season and having now defeated an NBA championship contender, the belief in Portland continues to grow after a remarkable start to the year.
Aldridge had a season-high 38 points and added 13 rebounds, and while he was greeted with shouts of “MVP! MVP!”, he also helped snap an eight-game winning streak of the visitors.
“Just surreal. It was humbling to have that moment here,” Aldridge said of the crowd’s reaction, according to ESPN. “I’ve been here so long and I’ve had very few of those type of chants here. So that was fun. I thought that made the night complete for me.”
Portland have now won 14 of their last 15 games, and have the best record in the Western Conference and the second-best in the entire league behind the Indiana Pacers, with suggestions growing that they could be a real force this year.
Elsewhere, the San Antonio Spurs were unable to join them at the top of the Western Conference after their meeting with the Minnesota Timberwolves in Mexico City was postponed due to a fire in the arena.
Prior to the game starting, smoke filtered through after a generator caught fire outside of the stadium which forced the players to their team buses. After an initial delay for tip-off, it was decided that it would be postponed to be played at the Target Center in Minneapolis at a later date.
However, there was action elsewhere and there were plenty of shocks on Wednesday night as both the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers suffered losses to the Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks respectively.
Kyle Korver equalled a record for most consecutive games with a three-pointer made as he moved it to 89 games in a row, and his performance helped the Hawks move back into third spot in the East.
In addition, although not a surprise considering recent form, the Indiana Pacers sealed their first win in Utah since 2005 with a 95-86 win over the Jazz.
Paul George had 19 points as the Pacers continue to make the early running in their bid to claim top seed in the Eastern Conference and the best record across the league.
NBA Results:
Denver Nuggets 88-98 Cleveland Cavaliers
Los Angeles Clippers 97-107 Atlanta Hawks
Phoenix Suns 97-88 Houston Rockets
Detroit Pistons 105-98 Milwaukee Bucks
Dallas Mavericks 100-97 New Orleans Pelicans
Indiana Pacers 95-86 Utah Jazz
Oklahoma City Thunder 104-111 Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs P-P Minnesota Timberwolves
COMMENTS