it on Lakers

Haven't lost

at home

since January

JASON QUICK

It wasn't so much that the Trail Blazers moved into a first-place tie with Utah on Monday. Or that they ran their home winning streak to 12 games. Or that they rallied to the defense of a fallen teammate.

No, what made Monday's emphatic 111-94 victory so special, so sweet and so rewarding was that it happened at the Rose Garden against you-know-who . . .

"It was the Lakers," Blazers center Joel Przybilla said. "And we beat the (snot) out of them. And you can print that. In bold. And big letters."

A delirious sellout crowd watched as the Blazers built leads as large as 30 points against the NBA's best team, but for roughly 10 minutes at the end of the third quarter they stood silent as Blazers rookie Rudy Fernandez lay motionless on the court after Trevor Ariza fouled him from behind on a fast-break layup. Fernandez left the arena in a neck brace on a stretcher, and Ariza was ejected.

"We played hard for him," said Brandon Roy, who led all scorers with 27 points.

Blazers coach Nate McMillan said he was told Fernandez would be OK, and that he had full movement of his extremities.

Late Monday, the team said Fernandez suffered a soft-tissue injury to his upper right chest. He remained in an area hospital overnight and is listed as questionable for Wednesday's home game against Dallas.

The foul by Ariza --a swipe from behind that caught Fernandez on the head --sent Fernandez to the court so hard that he was unable to cushion his fall. It also set off a mini-melee that included pushing and barking, primarily between Ariza and Roy, but also LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and Josh Powell. The latter three were given technicals.

The incident had little to do with the outcome of the game --the Blazers were leading 83-55 at the time --but the Blazers said it symbolizes how much they have grown up, physically and mentally.

"It shows we are not going to back down to any team," said Aldridge, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds.

By the time the smoke cleared, the Blazers emerged with their second annihilation of a Western Conference power this month. On March 1, the Blazers had leads as large as 29 against San Antonio before settling for an 18-point victory.

The Blazers (40-23) are tied with Utah for the Northwest Division lead, the first time the Blazers have been atop the division after the All-Star break since March 2001.

"That's an honor," Aldridge said.

The Blazers haven't lost in the Rose Garden since Jan. 21, to Cleveland --a string of 12 in a row, which is tied for the third longest in arena history and tied for seventh all-time in franchise history. Their 27-5 home record is the third best in the NBA behind Cleveland and the Lakers.

The Blazers have won seven in a row over the Lakers in the Rose Garden, and this time it helped that Kobe Bryant had an off night shooting, scoring 26 points on 11 of 29 shooting. Bryant played the final 10:45 with five fouls, one shy of being disqualified. Bryant was guarded mostly by Nicolas Batum, Roy and Outlaw, but in all, the Blazers said it was a team effort in containing him.

"This shows we can play great defense," Aldridge said. "We were forcing them to take jump shots, and it started from the start --everybody wanted to play D."

This victory came with a long list of heroics, ranging from the driving and dunking play of Batum early to the dagger shooting of Outlaw (22 points). Meanwhile, Przybilla was providing interior stability (18 rebounds).

And before he was clipped from behind, Fernandez was dead-on, hitting all four of his shots, including both of his three-point attempts.

"Our guys were great," McMillan said.

But, Roy warned, they haven't been great long enough. It's still March, and there are still 19 games left in a nip-and-tuck Western Conference race.

"First place? You gotta be there in April," Roy said. "Yeah, it's great, but we have to take it one game at a time and be in first on April 16."

Jason Quick: 503-221-4372;

jasonquick@news.oregonian.com

Read his "Behind the Beat" blog at

blog.oregonlive.com/

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