Randolph leads Clippers over Blazers in 2OT

PORTLAND, Ore.(AP) Zach Randolph doesn't
harbor any bad feelings toward his former team. He just doesn't want to
lose to the Trail Blazers.Randolph scored a season-high 38
points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 120-112 double-overtime
victory over the Blazers on Friday night.Randolph, who was booed at times by the Portland crowd, also had 11 rebounds.While
the Rose Garden fans' reaction suggested that many associate Randolph
with the so-called "Jail Blazers'' era, Randolph clearly has a soft
spot for Portland."I miss the rain,'' he said. "I miss everything. I came here at 19 and I still have a house here.''But the brief trip down memory lane was also a motivational factor."I played here, so it definitely is motivating to try and get the win,'' he said. "Plus, we needed the win anyway.''The
Clippers (5-17), with the second-worst record in the Western
Conference, sure did. Baron Davis contributed 27 points and made a
3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.Brandon Roy scored a
career-high 38 points, but the Blazers (15-10) dropped their third
straight game. Rookie Greg Oden had 15 points and 15 rebounds.After
Roy's jumper tied it at 108 in the second overtime, the Clippers made
four unanswered baskets to go up 116-108 and cruise to the victory.Randolph
was drafted by the Blazers in 2001 and played six seasons in Portland
before he was traded to New York. He was acquired by the Clippers in a
Nov. 21 trade with the Knicks, a deal that also brought guard Mardy
Collins west.The Clippers sent forward Tim Thomas and guard
Cuttino Mobley to New York. Mobley on Thursday announced his retirement
from the NBA because of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart
disease. Tests done after the trade indicated the condition had
worsened.After sending the game into overtime with his
3-pointer, Davis opened the extra period with another one. Roy's second
consecutive fadeaway jumper tied it at 106 with 15 seconds left in the
first overtime, and Davis missed on a long jumper at the buzzer for a
second OT.The Clippers went on an 8-0 run to open the second
quarter and went up 50-44 lead on Davis' layup before taking a 57-54
lead into the break.The Blazers went back ahead at 70-69 on
Oden's dunk. But the Clippers kept it close and the teams traded the
lead back and forth through most of the second half.Randolph was blocked and then fouled by Oden with 3:13 left, and Randolph postured by bumping the 7-rookie with his shoulder.On the other end, Randolph was called for fouling Oden, despite his repeated appeals to the referees that Oden had traveled.Oden's second free throw tied it at 92 with 2:50 left."Oden is tough,'' Randolph said. "He's solid.''Roy hit a pair of free throws to give the Blazers the lead, and both teams went scoreless until his jumper with 28 seconds left.Roy's
short jumper bounced around the rim before falling to make it 96-92.
But Al Thornton narrowed it for the Clippers with a long jumper.Steve
Blake went on to miss four of five free throw attempts for the Blazers
before Davis' 3-pointer. Blake went into the game having made 31 of 33
free throws over the Blazers' first 24 games."Yeah, I'm taking it personally, of course,'' Blake said. "The game was on my shoulders and I let them down.''The
Blazers were without reserve forward Travis Outlaw, who bruised his
tailbone when he took a hard fall in a loss to the Utah Jazz the night
before.Notes: The Blazers swept the Clippers in three games last
season. ... Darius Miles, a former Blazer and Clipper, worked out for
the Clippers this week. Miles had microfracture surgery on his right
knee in November 2006 while with Portland and hasn't played since. The
Blazers waived him at the end of last season. The Clippers drafted
Miles with the third overall pick in the 2000 draft.