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.<font color=red>Blazers:</font> Road reversal for the Blazers

Note: About Wedensday's Game Agaist Golden State!

Rasheed Wallace's defense and double double, plus a late 16-2 run, earn Portland another "big win" (And this guy hates Sheed and Blazers! JMO!!!)

01/29/04
JASON QUICK

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Five days ago, the Trail Blazers' season looked dead.

Coach Maurice Cheeks was categorizing his team as "bad," the players were pointing fingers, and the team was virtually as close to a playoff spot as they were to having the worst record in the league.

But after Wednesday's 88-76 win over Memphis, the Blazers' pulse has returned, and so has their hopes for postseason play.

"Sometimes a sense of urgency changes people's attitudes," guard Derek Anderson said.

Or maybe it's the trade that brought Darius Miles to the starting lineup. . . . or the sudden resurgence of Rasheed Wallace . . . or the return of Anderson from injury. Whatever, the Blazers are playing defense, winning on the road and finishing games in the fourth quarter -- abilities missing in the first half of the season.

"We are playing better," Cheeks said. "And I think we are feeling a little more confident, a little better about ourselves. Because this . . . this is a big win."

It's big because it came against a Memphis team that had won eight in a row. Big because it marked the third consecutive road victory. Big because the Blazers blew away the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter, turning a tie game into a rout by going on a 16-2 run early in the fourth quarter.

And big because the Blazers picked up ground on a team they are chasing for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Blazers (19-24) trail Memphis and Denver by 51/2 games for the final spot and took a 2-1 lead in the season series with Memphis.

What might be most encouraging about the apparent turnaround is that the charge is being led by Wallace. The most talented and influential player on the Blazers, Wallace has often held this team captive, wondering which player would show up game by game -- the one who can dominate, or the one who disappears.

On Wednesday, they got the $17 million full-meal deal. In perhaps his most dominant all-around game of the season, Wallace finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and he played back-alley-tough defense against Pau Gasol and Lorenzen Wright. Gasol finished 4 for 15 and Wright 1 for 5 as Wallace banged, shoved and scratched.

Down the stretch, when Wallace so often has vanished, he flourished, igniting the Blazers' decisive 16-2 fourth-quarter run by scoring seven points in a row.

"He scored only 16, but that wasn't all he brought to this game," guard Damon Stoudamire said. "His biggest impact came on the defensive end."

Wallace declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the Blazers seem to be invigorated with Miles starting at small forward, which has pushed Wallace to center. It has made them quicker and more athletic, and as Stoudamire said, allowed Wallace to guard players more his size. Miles struggled with his shot Wednesday, but finished with six points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

"I don't know what it is, but he seems to give us a little more energy," Cheeks said.

The Blazers also got a lift from Qyntel Woods, who either maintained or increased the Blazers' lead while playing 17 minutes at backup point guard against a Memphis team that leads the NBA in steals. In Monday's game at Washington, Cheeks said he was so afraid he would embarrass Woods against the pressure of the Wizards' guards, that he played Stoudamire for 44 of 48 minutes.

But with today's game in Atlanta looming, Cheeks said he knew he would have to play Woods against Memphis, regardless of the outcome.

Woods finished 3 for 10 from the field with eight points, three assists and zero turnovers.

Jason Quick: 503-221-4372; [e-mail]

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/

GO BLAZERS!!!!!!