Travis Outlaw heeded some words of advice from his dad and it paid off.
Outlaw scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Portland Trail Blazers win their 13th-straight game, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 97-72 on Sunday night.
“My dad was saying, ‘Son, you’re terrible coming out of the gate,’ and I said I don’t know why that is and he said: ‘You’re just waiting until the game gets on the line,”’ Outlaw said. “Maybe that’s what it is because if I miss a couple of shots in the first (quarter) I get discouraged.”
Outlaw has averaged 14.6 points during the Trail Blazers’ winning streak and has been coming up big in the final period.
“I always tell Travis at the beginning of the fourth quarter that it’s a new game: ‘Come out and do what you do,”’ said Brandon Roy, who led Portland with 22 points. “He’s tough to guard because if you put somebody small on him he can shoot right over the top and if you put a big man on him he can drive around him. Travis really gives us a threat in the fourth quarter.”
Portland is just three wins short of the franchise record of 16 straight in the 1990-91 season. The Blazers will try to extended the streak on Monday when they visit the Utah Jazz, but they’ll be without coach Nate McMillan, who is attending a funeral. Assistant coach Dean Demopoulos will take over in his absence.
In other NBA games Sunday, it was Boston 110, the Los Angeles Lakers 91; Chicago 100, New York 83; Golden State 105, Denver 95; San Antonio 111, Memphis 87; and Phoenix 117, Sacramento 102.
Trailing 63-59 in the third quarter, the Blazers went on to hold the 76ers scoreless over the next 8:21. Philadelphia scored just nine points in the fourth quarter.
Outlaw sealed the game with an acrobatic dunk, bringing his arm around 180 degrees over Rodney Carney and stuffing the ball to make it 82-66.
Outlaw said the last time he tried to dunk on Carney he got blocked.
“I thought, ‘Oh no, here we go again,”’ Outlaw said. He joked that he’d probably replay tape of the play “about 30 times.”
James Jones also had 12 points for the Blazers. Steve Blake added 11.
Andre Iguodala had 24 points for the 76ers, and Andre Miller added 17 points and 11 assists. The loss snapped Philadelphia’s three-game winning streak.
Celtics 110, Lakers 91
Paul Pierce scored 33 points and Kevin Garnett had 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to lead visiting Boston.
The Celtics took the lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Each time the Lakers threatened, the Celtics would pull away again.
Kobe Bryant scored 22 for Los Angeles, going just 6-of-25 from the floor. Lamar Odom had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The victory in the final of two meetings between the teams this season ran Boston’s NBA-best record to 26-3 and extended its winning streak to six straight. It also ended a four-game winning streak by the Lakers, who still have won 10 of their last 13.
The Celtics prevented Lakers coach Phil Jackson from moving ahead of Boston Hall of Fame coach Ray Auerbach on the career wins ladder. Jackson remained tied with Auerbach for seventh on the all-time list with 938 victories.
Bulls 100, Knicks 83
At New York, Ben Gordon scored 25 points in his second consecutive strong performance since returning to a reserve role, leading the Bulls over the Knicks.
Luol Deng added 17 points for the Bulls, who are 2-0 since Jim Boylan became the interim head coach last week, three days after Scott Skiles was fired. Boylan’s first decision was to ask Gordon to give up his starter’s role, and it paid off immediately.
Gordon, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year as a rookie in 2004-05, scored 31 points Friday in a victory over Milwaukee. Sunday, he made 11 of 15 shots in another good outing at Madison Square Garden, not far from where he grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Zach Randolph shot only 8-of-23, but had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost four straight and fell to 8-21.
Warriors 105, Nuggets 95
Baron Davis scored 28 points and Stephen Jackson added 23 to help Golden State beat the Nuggets, ending a seven-game losing streak in Denver.
Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith added 15 points each for Denver, which saw its season-high seven-game winning streak snapped.
Golden State last won in Denver on Feb. 24, 2003.
Spurs 111, Grizzlies 87
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan each scored 24 points to help host San Antonio hand Memphis its fifth straight loss.
Duncan also grabbed 17 rebounds, and Parker had nine assists. Michael Finley scored 22 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Spurs.
Pau Gasol led the Grizzlies with 19 points and Rudy Gay, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer earlier this month gave Memphis its only win over the Spurs this season, added 16.
Suns 117, Kings 102
At Sacramento, Calif., Amare Stoudemire scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to help the Suns beat the Kings.
Shawn Marion made five 3-pointers and had 25 points, Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points, Steve Nash had 12 points and 15 assists, Grant Hill contributed 12 points and Raja Bell added 11.
Prior to the game, the Kings learned Ron Artest could face possible surgery this week to remove chipped bone fragments in his right elbow.
Francisco Garcia scored 30 points for the Kings, who have lost five of six at home.
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