Fernandez

keys a late

13-0 run

RYAN WHITE

In Portland on Monday night, late in the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers and Philadelphia were slugging away at each other with an array of drives and jumpers and blocks and big rebounds.

In Phoenix, at the same time, the Suns and Denver Nuggets were doing the exact same thing.

And in both cities, both games mattered --a lot.

Welcome back, playoff race.

In Phoenix, a Suns loss would drop to seven Portland's magic number for clinching its first playoff appearance since 2003. A Denver loss would move the Blazers into a tie with Denver atop the NBA's Northwest Division --if Portland won.

Which the Trail Blazers didn't do, losing to the 76ers 114-108 in overtime.

Also, Phoenix (39-31) won 118-115. So Portland's minimum playoff requirement remains any combination of eight Portland wins or Suns' losses. And the Trail Blazers still trail the Nuggets by a game.

Not that Portland (44-27) didn't have its chance. The Blazers had what they'd like on most nights --the ball in Brandon Roy's hands with a chance to win the game --but he missed his jump shot, and into overtime we went.

It's a rare night anymore when Roy doesn't dominate the box score, but Monday was one of those nights. He didn't hit double figures until converting a three-point play with 1:36 left in regulation. That gave him 12 points for the game and the Blazers a 96-94 lead.

Andre Iguodala tied the game with two free throws. Greg Oden gave the Blazers the lead back with a dunk with 30.2 seconds left. Iguodala tied it again with two more free throws 10 seconds later.

Iguodala finished with 25 points for the 76ers. Thaddeus Young scored 25 points for the 76ers. Andre Miller scored 27 points for the 76ers.

You see how the Blazers got in trouble.

To change things up, the Blazers, playing their first game back at the Rose Garden after a five-game trip, fell behind in the second quarter instead of the first.

The 76ers (36-33), playing the last game of a five-game trip, and a night after beating Sacramento, didn't look like a team on the back end of a five-game trip or back-to-backs. They scored on six of their first seven possessions and shot 81.3 percent in the first quarter.

That number only dropped to 64.7 percent by halftime, and by then Philadelphia had opened up a 14-point lead, 58-44.

The Blazers opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run to get within two at 58-56 but didn't finally grab a lead until Rudy Fernandez led a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter --after Philadelphia scored the first four points to open up a 79-72 lead.

Fernandez opened his little masterpiece with a four-point play, followed that with two free throws, followed that with a dunk. Oden hammered back a miss to make it 82-79. Fernandez hit another three-pointer to make it 85-79 with 8:48 left.

From there, they bounced back and forth until Roy's game-winning attempt missed.

Oden, playing his first home game since Feb. 11, before the All-Star break, looked energetic --for the 2:20 he played in the first half. He had a dunk, a three-point play, a couple of rebounds and two fouls, the second of which was a worthwhile attempt at drawing a charge on Miller.

And that was that until the second half when he was also really quite good. He finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Steve Blake had 22 points. Fernandez finished with 19.