"One of the hardest things to do in this league comes after you kind of control a team in a game," Portland forward Martell Webster said. "Then the next game, you have to play the same team, and you have to go in the same way.

"We're going to have to be alert and still hungry and take up where we left off (Friday night) if we're going to get it done again (Saturday night). But if we lock it up defensively and execute on the offensive end -- that should take care of itself -- and we should get another win."

BLAZERS 107, CLIPPERS 102: Though the Clippers were without injured starters Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman and Brevin Knight, and forward Tim Thomas left after the first quarter with flu-like symptoms, Portland (36-33) didn't clinch the win until Jarrett Jack sank a pair of free throws to provide the final outcome with 5.1 seconds remaining Friday.

"That's a very dangerous game," said Portland coach Nate McMillan, who evidently didn't expect Maggette, Kaman or Knight to sit it out. "They were missing a lot of players. Everything we went over (at Friday morning shoot-around), none of that (the Clippers) used. We went into this game blind, because none of their players were playing."

That would seem a poor excuse for the way the Blazers defended a Clipper team that shot holes in the Portland defense all night.

"We definitely have to get better defensively," Portland guard Brandon Roy said. "We allowed them to score way too many points, and they were missing a lot of guys. But we did a good job of stepping up when we needed to and getting stops when we needed to."