Next patsy opponent for the Trail Blazers: the SuperSonics Monday night at Seattle.
This is a good stretch of schedule for Portland (37-33), which has to finish only 5-7 over the last dozen games to earn a winning record. Seattle (16-54) has lost 11 in a row and seems to be simply mailing in the rest of the season, probably its last in the Emerald City.
BLAZERS 83, CLIPPERS 72: Portland beat the same opponent in the second of back-to-back games, but in much different fashion Saturday.
After both teams shot superbly in the Blazers' 107-102 victory at the Rose Garden Friday night, they both looked tired Saturday night at Staples Center.
The Blazers won despite shooting .376 from the field and .211 (4 of 19) from 3-point range. They dominated the boards (53-41) and took care of the ball with only nine turnovers. Portland made 4 of 20 shots in the fourth quarter and still outscored the Clippers 17-16 in the period.
"We were physical out there," Portland center Joel Przybilla said. "Our spacing on offense was good. Brandon (Roy) and LaMarcus (Aldridge) were doing a great job working off double-teams, and we were feeding off them."
