Lucky 13! Trail Blazers Continue Streak

The Trail Blazers have truly become the big story of the season in the NBA.

Salem-News.com

PORTLAND, Ore. - The hottest team in the league right now sealed the deal on their 13th straight victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday. Portland, now 18-12 for the season, are looking to take over Denver's spot as the number 1 team in the Northwest division. If Denver loses their match-up with Golden State Sunday, the two teams will be tied at the top.

Even though the home game against Philadelphia ended in a 25 point blow out, 97-72, anyone who saw the game would agree that it didn't always look that way, especially in the 3rd when the 76ers gained an 11 point lead.

Brandon Roy yet again led his team in scoring with 22 points. James Jones and Travis Outlaw picked up 12 a-piece, and Steve Blake, who can be largely credited with fuleling the late third quarter comeback had 11 of his own including three 3-pointers.

Andre Iguodala had 24 points in an impressive performance for his 76er team, and Andre Miller picked up 17. The same-name pair were unable to obtain the victory for their team however, and Philadelphia's record has dropped to 13-17 for the season.

The first quarter and half of the second were a tight match-up, the team's remaining close in scoring and neither side allowing any easy buckets. Half way through the second was when the momentum changed, and the 76ers started on a run that would carry through the first half of the 3rd, gaining an 11 point lead on the Trail Blazers and causing the fans to start worrying that the winning streak would come to its end at 12 games.

In the second half of the 3rd, the Trail Blazers started to fire back. Steve Blake sank a massive 3-pointer and Brandon Roy got sent to the line on 3 occasions, each time scoring the basket and the extra free throw point.

The run continued on through the 4th, the Trail Blazers going on a 20-0 run before the 76ers would finally make a basket half way through the final quarter.

The Trail Blazer team has now surpassed the 12 game streak it had in 2001-02, making the 13 straight wins the second longest streak in franchise history, the longest being 16 games in 1990-91.

Tomorrow the team hopes to make it a 14 in a row, and a 3 game winning streak against the Jazz when the travel to Utah for the 3rd meeting between the two teams this season.

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