--It was the second straight home defeat for the Blazers (2-3), who were 34-7 at home last season and only once lost back-to-back games at the Garden.
"We can't be losing games like that here," Portland's Brandon Roy said. "But (the Hawks) made the plays down the stretch and we didn't. That didn't happen to us here very often last year." --Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were both on the money the first half, each with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Their opportunities were fewer in the second half. Roy was 2-for-10 in the half and finished with 19 points; Aldridge was 3-for-8 and led Portland with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
"My shot felt good, and we did a good job trying to get Brandon open early," Aldridge said. "But as the game went on, it was tougher for him to get clean looks. We have to do a better job of getting him open."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The two things you have to do to give yourself a chance to win is shoot the ball and play defense. We didn't do either (Tuesday night)." -- Portland coach Nate McMillan, after the loss to Atlanta.
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