Recap: Portland Trailblazers 83, L.A. Clippers 72
03/22/08

Without the injured Chris Kaman to deal with in the paint, Portland center Joel Przybilla had plenty of elbow room to dominate the glass against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Przybilla had a career-high 25 rebounds along with 14 points, and the Trail Blazers sent the Clippers to their seventh straight loss with an 83-72 victory on Saturday night.

"One of the assistant coaches told me before the game they were probably going to go small, so just try to get every rebound. And that's what I focused on," said Przybilla, who had seven offensive boards. "Last night we played at home and I only got three rebounds, so I was upset with myself because that's not me. I take a lot of pride in my rebounding. That's what my job is."

The 7-foot-1 Przybilla came in averaging only 7.8 rebounds. But the Clippers had only one player dressed who was listed as taller than 6-9. That was 6-11 reserve forward Nick Fazekas, who signed with them for the rest of the season on Tuesday after working under a pair of 10-day contracts. Fazekas had nine rebounds in 17 minutes, while Josh Powell led Los Angeles with 10 boards.

"I'm jealous," said Kaman, who missed his eighth consecutive game with a sore back. "I mean, Przybilla got out there, played hard, worked his butt off and went after all the boards. We were small and he took advantage of it. He never does stuff like that. But it was one of those nights. In an 82-game season, you're going to have a few of those nights if you're playing consistent minutes."

Przybilla, whose previous career high was 22, eclipsed that with an offensive rebound on a missed jumper by Travis Outlaw with 8:49 to play. His final total was two shy of the Blazers' club record of 27, set by Sidney Wicks in a double-overtime win over the Lakers on Feb. 26, 1975.

The most rebounds by a Portland player in a regulation game was 26, by LeRoy Ellis on Oct. 27, 1970, against the Buffalo Braves - who are now the Clippers.

"We did not have any bigger guys to put in," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy lamented. "Sometimes we did a good job boxing out, but their size was just too much for us. They had 22 second-chance points. That was a killer for us, no matter what we did."

Brandon Roy scored 23 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 21 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Trail Blazers complete a three-game season sweep. The combined margin of victory in the three games was just 18 points. Los Angeles came into this season having won six of the previous seven meetings, including eight straight at Staples Center .

Corey Maggette scored 21 points for the Clippers, who shot 39 percent from the field while matching their longest losing streak of the season. In the other two meetings with Portland, they shot a season-worst 31 percent on Feb. 27 in an 82-80 loss that snapped Portland's eight-game road skid, then a season-best 56 percent in Friday night's 107-102 defeat at the Rose Garden.

Tim Thomas, who sat out the final three quarters of Friday night's game because of a stomach virus, didn't play in the rematch for the same reason. Brevin Knight his third straight because of soreness in his lower left leg, and Aaron Williams his 10th in a row due to an abdominal strain.

Maggette, whose sore left shoulder prevented him from suiting up on Friday, was one of only eight players Dunleavy had at his disposal.

Notes: The most rebounds by a Clippers opponent is 27, by Popeye Jones on April 6, 1996, at Dallas . ... Portland coach Nate McMillan still holds the record for most assists by a Clippers opponent with 25, which he accomplished as a rookie on Feb. 23, 1987, at Seattle . ... Portland is 12-3 when Aldridge and Roy each score at least 20 points. ... The Clippers have won only two of their last 17 games. They beat the league-worst Miami Heat by one point, and the Sacramento Kings in double-overtime. Los Angeles would have to go 9-4 the rest of the way for Dunleavy to avoid finishing with fewer than 30 wins for the fifth time in his 15 seasons as an NBA coach. ... The Trail Blazers swept a season series from the Clippers for the first time since 1999-00, when they faced each other four times. ... Quinton Ross has played in 289 games with the Clippers, the most by an undrafted player in franchise history. He is now 10 behind Darrick Martin's club record of 152 starts by an undrafted player. ... The Clippers entered the game next-to-last in the league in scoring (94.2), rebounding (39.9) and 3-point field goal percentage (33.0).