Heat evaporate in stunning loss to Trail Blazers

ThursdayIndiana   81-76    New York     Sacramento  112-117  Dallas     Portland  92-90     Miami

Friday, January 11, 2013
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum, of France, watches his shot during the second half. Net photo.

ThursdayIndiana   81-76    New York     Sacramento  112-117  Dallas     Portland  92-90     Miami     PORTLAND - Guard Wesley Matthews buried successive three-pointers to cap a stunning late rally as the Portland Trail Blazers stunned the NBA champion Miami Heat with a tense 92-90 win on Thursday.Trailing 80-68 with just over eight minutes left, Portland finished with a rousing 24-10 run to record their fourth straight win, and their ninth in a row at home, to improve to 20-15 for the season.Matthews’ heroics put Portland ahead 91-90 and a LaMarcus Aldridge free throw then made it 92-90 with 10.4 seconds remaining.Guard Mario Chalmers missed a late three-point attempt as the Heat fell to their fifth defeat in their last eight games for an overall record of 23-11.Nicolas Batum led the way for the Trail Blazers with 28 points, forward LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 20 points and 15 rebounds while Matthews finished with 18 points on seven-of-18 shooting.Though Chris Bosh scored a game-high 29 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade weighed in with 18, the visitors paid the price after being outscored 29-22 in the final quarter.Portland began brightly but LeBron James poured in a three-pointer to give slow-starting Miami a 21-18 lead after a closely contested opening quarter.