Portland, Ore. - Greg Oden picked Monday night to have his breakout game in his young National Basketball Association career, and the Milwaukee Bucks paid the price.
With the rookie center playing a dominating role, the Portland Trail Blazers ruled the glass in scoring a punishing 102-85 victory over the Bucks at the Rose Garden. Oden scored a career-high 24 points and tied his career high with 15 rebounds as Portland enjoyed a decisive 58-30 rebounding advantage. Portland also got nine rebounds from forward LaMarcus Aldridge, eight each from Travis Outlaw and Nicolas Batum, and had 19 offensive rebounds as a team. Aldridge also scored 22 points and Outlaw had 18.
Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villaneuva scored 23 points apiece to lead the Bucks, who again were playing without injured center Andrew Bogut. Villaneuva had 10 rebounds, Jefferson had seven and no one else had more than three.
"(Rebounding) was definitely a huge factor," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "In the Sacramento game, Jason Thompson had his coming-out party against us. And then Brian Skinner and the Clippers. And tonight it was Greg Oden. So it's a big concern. We're not getting our bodies on people enough, especially at key moments of the game. We battled back, we got it to five and then we just disintegrated on the glass and they really took advantage of us."
Added Bucks guard Michael Redd: "We got dominated (on the glass). We got dominated big time. Greg Oden . . . he played great tonight. He dominated and played well."
The Trail Blazers wasted little time in gaining the upper hand. With Milwaukee making just two of its first 12 shots and turning the ball over twice, Portland jumped out to a 19-8 lead. The Bucks heated up later in the quarter and cut Portland's lead to 22-19 after one quarter. Twice in the second quarter the Bucks closed to within one but were unable to take the lead and Portland led at halftime, 45-40.
Sparked by Aldridge, Portland scored eight straight points early in the third quarter to take a 53-42 lead. A three-point play by Oden started a 7-0 run that gave Portland a 64-48 lead with 3 minutes 52 seconds left. But the Bucks surged late, got three-pointers from Jefferson and Tyronn Lue, and trimmed the lead to 71-64 after three quarters. Jefferson scored 11 in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, a three-pointer by Villanueva bounced around the rim and fell in to cut Portland's lead to 76-71. But with Oden muscling the Bucks inside, Portland quickly pushed its lead to 85-73.
"Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge," Jefferson said. "Last game it was Brian Skinner and Marcus Camby. For a few weeks there it was trying to contain the three (point shot) and shutting down the three. Now we've struggled against bigs in the last couple of games and it not just on our bigs. It's our help defense, keeping people out of the paint, so they're not always having to help their man."
If it is any consolation for the Bucks, at least they are now done traveling to the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Not many Eastern Conference teams can say that since the season is just barely past the midway point. The only road games that remain against Western Conference teams are at Dallas and at New Orleans at the end of February.
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