KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2010 / SPORTS
7B
NBA
Portland takes a close win over Philly
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHA — Former 76ers guard Andre Miller scored 24 points and Jerryd Bayless had 14 of his 18 in the fourth quarter, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a 98-90 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points for the Trail Blazers, who played the second half without two-time All-Star guard Brandon Roy, who left with a strained right hamstring.
Sixers center Samuel Dalembert arrived at the Wachovia Center at 6:57 p.m. and started. He had been on a two-day goodwill mission to his native Haiti, which is recovering from a devastating earthquake. He had 15 rebounds and 10 points.
Averaging 23.4 points, Roy left after scoring 10. He grabbed his right thigh after banking in a 10-footer with 1:02 left in the second quarter and is listed as day-to-day.
The Blazers overcame his loss thanks in part to Miller, who signed with Portland in the off-season.
Portland led 90-83 with 3:12 to go, but the Sixers scored six straight points, and a steal and layup by Andre Iguodala cut it to 90-88 with 1:38 to go. Iguodala led the Sixers with 23 points.
Miller then made two free throws, and after Elton Brand hit an 8-footer with 59 seconds left, Bayless and Aldridge each made two free throws to clinch the victory.
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North Carolina guard Larry Drew II will pass the ball around Wake Forest forward Al-Farouq Aminu Wednesday. Wake Forest handed North Carolina its third loss in a row.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UNC drops third straight
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Freshman C.J. Harris scored a career-high 20 points and Wake Forest beat No. 24 North Carolina 82-69 on Wednesday night to send the Tar Heels to their first three-game losing streak under coach Roy Williams.
Ishmael Smith had 20 points, and Al-Farouq Aminu added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (13-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). They hit 56 percent of their 3-pointers and were 7 of 8 from long range in the second half of their first victory in Chapel Hill since 2003.
Harris had 13 points in the second half and fellow freshman
The losing streak is their longest since they dropped five in a row under Matt Doherty in 2002-03.
Will Graves scored 16 points to lead the Tar Heels (12-7, 1-3). The defending national champions, who have dropped four of five, were playing their first game since falling to No. 24 — their lowest ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 since 2006.
Ari Stewart added 11 points tor Wake Forest, which was coming off a 20-point loss three nights earlier at Duke but salvaged a split against its top instate rivals by winning its second straight against North Carolina.
The Tar Heels made it a one-point game shortly after halftime before Wake Forest's first-year guards fueled the 18-6 run that put the Demon Deacons in complete control."
Stewart closed the run with three straight threes in a 90-second span, capping it with a 25-footer that stretched it to 58-45 with 10:45 to play. Even after the spurt was over, the threes kept falling: Harris swished a pair 30 seconds apart from the same spot on the left wing, stretching the lead to 68-53 with 7:26 left.
Travis Wear and Deon Thompson had 13 points apiece, and Graves pulled North Carolina to 40-39 with a three with 17 minutes remaining before the Tar Heels faded to the fourth 1-3 start in ACC play in program history.
Two key members of North Carolina's front line were on the
bench in sport coats and ties. No 2 scorer Ed Davis sat out with a left ankle injury and 7-footer Tyler Zeller missed his third straight game with a stress fracture in his right foot.
NBA
But it was in the backcourt where Wake Forest had its way with the Tar Heels.
North Carolina's guards have struggled since Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington left early for the NBA — and Smith and the Demon Deacons exploited that weakness repeatedly at both ends of the court.
Smith beat the Tar Heels down-court three times for early layups before Harris and Stewart took over from long range after the break. Meanwhile, North Carolina finished 6 for 26 from beyond the arc against the ACC's best defense against the three.
Smith had 10 points in the first half for the Demon Deacons, who went ahead to stay during a run of 10 straight points. Gary Clark put them up for good with — what else? — a three-pointer about nine minutes in that made it 19-18.
Hawks overthrow Kings
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Jamal Crawford scored 20 points to lead a strong effort by Atlanta's backups, and the Hawks bounced back from a sluggish start to beat the Sacramento Kings 108-97 on Wednesday night.
Crawford, perhaps the NBA's top sixth man, led the Hawks in scoring for the 14th time this season, also knocking down the 22nd fourpoint play of his career. Maurice Evans had several big plays, as well, during the decisive third quarter as the Hawks pulled away to hand the Kings their fifth straight loss and
Tyreke Evans led Sacramento with 24 points, and Kevin Martin added 23.
Joe Johnson scored 17 points for the Hawks, But the Atlanta reserves made the difference, outscoring Sacramento's 45-30. Crawford's four-point play in the final period left him only two behind Reggie Miller for the most in NBA history.
Before a sparse crowd at Philips Arena, the Kings went up 44-33 on Jason Thompson's layup with 5.30 left in the first half. The first place Hawks finally awoke from their slumber. Johnson hit a fadeaway
jumper, then put it off softly off a drive.
Atlanta closed on a 21-8 spurt to lead 54-52 at the break, then kept it up in the third. A 10-2 spurt at the start, capped by Smith's dunk off another alley-oop pass from Bibby, pushed the Hawks to a double-figures lead. After Sacramento closed to 72-68 late in the period, the Atlanta扑umps put it away. Zaza Pachulia drove strong to the hoop to get the momentum back on Atlanta's side.
Sacramento jugged its lineup, starting Jon Brockman and Donte Green in hopes of matching up better with the Hawks on the inside.
Atlanta Hawks' Jeff Teague, left, and Sacramento Kings Beno Udri scrumble for a loose ball in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Wednesday. The Hawks won 108-97.
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