Portland Trail Blazers Team Report - April 12

(Basketball News) - The Portland Trail Blazers visit the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at the SBC Center. It is the third and final meeting of the season between the clubs. The Spurs defeated Portland, 114-80, on December 30th at the Rose Garden, while the Blazers beat San Antonio, 107-99, at Portland.

Portland plays the finale of a brief-two-game road trip. On Sunday, Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers over the Hornets, 90-81, at New Orleans Arena. Damon Stoudamire added 19 points and nine assists and Ruben Patterson had 16 points for the Blazers, who ended a seven-game losing streak. Abdur-Rahim shot 10-of-17 from the floor, as Portland shot 42 percent from the floor for the game.

Forward Darius Miles had 13 points in Sunday’s victory for Portland, which used a 7-2 run in the fourth quarter to pull away for good. Rookie Sebastian Telfair ended with nine points and six assists in the win.

The Trail Blazers, who will split their final six games of the season on the road, are a brutal 9-29 on the road this season.

Portland is 2-7 in Tuesday games this season.

On the injury front, center Theo Ratliff (shoulder) and guard Derek Anderson (back) are questionable for Tuesday’s game. Ratliff has not played since March 22nd and has missed 10 games in a row, while Anderson last played on March 24th and has been sidelined for nine straight contests.

The Blazers will split their final six games of the 2004-05 campaign evenly between the Rose Garden and the road. Besides San Antonio, the Blazers will visit Golden State and Denver. Portland will host Dallas, Utah and the Lakers in its final contests at home.

Stoudamire has scored in double-digits in 10 of his last 11 games and has netted 20 or more in three of those contests. He is averaging 15.7 points and 6.1 assists in his last 10 outings.

Portland is going to miss the postseason for the second straight year after a string of 21 straight playoff appearances was snapped last spring.