Trail Blazers win, move into tie with Jazz

Portland's playoff streak may not end at 21 straight seasons after all — not with the way the Trail Blazers are playing lately.

Zach Randolph scored 18 points, and Darius Miles had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Portland to an 88-82 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night in Philadelphia.

The surging Blazers (39-36) have won nine of their last 12 games and moved into a tie with the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.b vc

"We're still climbing uphill," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "When you are trying to get into that eighth slot, you can't afford to let games slip away. That's the thing that we keep talking about and harping on — we can't afford to let games slip away."

The Blazers appear to have found some late-season chemistry after the high-profile trades of Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace.

"We know we've got to win these games and just stay focused and play hard," Randolph said. "It's about chemistry anywhere you go. We know we can't lose. We're all just working together."

Miles, acquired in a midseason deal, had his second straight strong game for the Blazers. He scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including a turnaround jumper and a driving dunk that both times pushed the lead back to four.

A day after the Trail Blazers hit a season-high 61 percent of their shots in a win over Boston, Portland shot 49 percent. Miles, who scored 31 against the Celtics, is 20-for-30 from the floor in the last two games.

"Coach Cheeks keeps telling me I can be a great player, so that's what I'm trying to be," Miles said.

The Sixers played again without Allen Iverson, out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Willie Green led Philadelphia with a career-best 22 points, Kenny Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Samuel Dalembert had 11 points and a career-high 19 boards.

The Trail Blazers held a 13-point lead midway through the third quarter, when the Sixers went on a 10-3 run to pull within three.

Green, the rookie guard getting more playing time in Iverson's absence, tied the game at 76-all when he slammed home a Thomas miss that brought a rise out of the crowd and the Sixers' bench.

"They were just giving me the ball and I was trying to make plays, trying to make something happen," Green said. "My confidence is just rising and rising right now."