Aldridge scores 30, Blazers end road losing streak

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers have had trouble on the road all season, and were coming off one of the low points the previous night. They got a much-needed win against one of the league's worst teams.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 10 rebounds as the Trail Blazers beat the Washington Wizards 110-99 on Saturday night to end a four-game road losing streak. Portland's skid included the first two games of their current seven-game road trip, including a 104-86 defeat at Boston on Friday night.

" Whenever you lose, especially the way we lost, we're blessed to have an opportunity to come back the next night,'' said Portland's Jamal Crawford, who scored 23 points. " Usually if you lose a game like last night, you sit on it for two or three days with the schedule the way it is."

Aldridge shot 12 for 15 from the floor and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line, topping 20 points for the third straight game.

" I was just locked in tonight,'' Aldridge said. " I just felt good."

Raymond Felton added 21 points - 10 in the fourth quarter - as the Trail Blazers improved to 6-14 on the road, compared to 14-7 at home.

John Wall had 25 points and eight assists, JaVale McGee scored 15 points and Chris Singleton added 12 for Washington. The Wizards were coming off a 106-101 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, but again failed to start a winning streak. Washington has only won consecutive games once this season.

" We couldn't get stops together when we needed to,'' Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. " We've got to become more committed defensively as a group. You've got to be able in that fourth quarter to put two, three, four stops in a row together to get over that hump, and I didn't think we could do that tonight."

In addition to trying to stop their road woes, the Trail Blazers also came in looking for a measure of revenge for a 124-109 home loss to Washington on Feb. 14.

" There's a lot of motivation for this game," Portland coach Nate McMillan said before the contest.

The Trail Blazers had the edge almost the entire game - they didn't trail after the first quarter - but couldn't pull away from the Wizards until late.

The Blazers finally wore down Washington in the fourth, opening up their first double-digit lead of the game. Felton converted a three-point play with 3:55 left to give Portland a 102-90 lead, and Gerald Wallace's layup with 2:49 left gave Portland their largest lead of the game, 106-93.

After two baskets by the Wizards, Crawford's 3-pointer with 1:19 gave the Trail Blazers a 109-97 lead and sealed the win.

" Basically, they got whatever they wanted," Wall said.

Late in the second quarter, tempers briefly flared between the two teams. Portland center Marcus Camby was called for a flagrant 2 and ejected after getting tangled up with Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin as they fought for a rebound. Camby shoved Seraphin to the ground, and Seraphin got up and pushed Camby in the chest before the two were separated. Seraphin was also given a technical on the play.

" I really don't know why he got mad, because I boxed him out,'' Seraphin said. " I can't let people push me like that. I fell down, and I stand up and I said, `What's up?" '

Camby said he thought Seraphin had his forearm on Camby's throat, and the Blazers' center let the frustration over the team's recent struggles get to him. Camby said he " felt embarrassed" after the incident, but was surprised at the severity of the punishment.

" It's something I'm definitely going to send into the league, and see what happens from there," Camby said.

NOTES: The Trail Blazers were a season-best 26 of 27 from the free-throw line. ... The Wizards were whistled for three defensive 3-second violation technical fouls.