PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS vs. CHICAGO BULLS GAME NO. 48 --- FEBRUARY 4, 1997 Record: Overall---25-22, Home---14-8, Road---11-14 RUNNING WITH THE BULLS --- The Trail Blazers, 25-22, will be looking to bounce back from an 0-4 Eastern swing when they host the Chicago Bulls tonight in the Rose Garden. The four straight losses is Portland's longest streak this season. Following the matchup with the defending world champions, the Blazers take a six-day NBA All-Star Weekend break before returning to action at home against Phoenix next Tuesday. Portland's rematch with the Bulls comes Feb. 24 at the United Center. The Blazers at 25-22 are three games above .500 and with a win tonight would make them two wins better than they were last year (24-24) going into the All-Star break. Portland finished January with a 9-7 record, the 11th time in the last 12 years it has ended up on the plus side for the month. The Blazers, with a 21-12 mark in Western Conference play, have more wins than any team in the West and overall own the conference's fifth best record and the third best in the Pacific Division. Portland's 103-102 loss at Minnesota Sunday was its fifth by one point this season and, of its 22 setbacks, was the 14th by six points or less. Before the just-completed 0-4 Eastern trip, the Blazers had won 11 of 14 including road successes at the Lakers and Houston, wins at home over L.A. and Detroit and a one-point setback at Seattle. PROBABLE STARTERS --- F-- No. 3 Clifford Robinson (6-10), F--No. 33 Gary Trent (6-8), C--No. 24 Chris Dudley (6-11), G--No. 34 Isaiah Rider (6-5), G--No. 7 Kenny Anderson (6-1). RECENT TRANSACTIONS --- Stacey Augmon, a 6-foot-8 forward-guard in his sixth NBA season, was acquired by the Trail Blazers Jan. 24 from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guards Randolph Childress, Aaron McKie and Reggie Jordan. Portland also signed veteran guard and former Trail Blazer Ennis Whately to a 10-day contract. On Jan. 31, the Blazers signed Ruben Nembhard, a 6-3 guard who played in eight games for the Utah Jazz this season, to a 10-day contract. (See Player Notes for profiles.) INJURY REPORT --- Arvydas Sabonis was placed on the injured list (hematoma, left calf) on Jan. 24 and will miss his seventh game Tuesday. The injury occurred in the Jan. 22 game at Seattle . . . Rasheed Wallace (fractured left thumb), is on injured list for his 20th game (sixth week). THE BLAZERS-BULLS SERIES --- Portland is behind in its all-time series with the Chicago Bulls, 47-34, and has lost three in a row. The Blazers last victory in the series was by a 116-103 score in Portland on Feb. 8, 1995. At home, Portland has a 22-19 advantage. The Bulls won on their last visit here, 107-104, on Nov. 27, 1995, but before that the Blazers had won two in a row by margins of 22 and 13 points. In Chicago, Portland is 12-28 and has lost three in a row and four of its last five. PORTLAND & CHICAGO LAST YEAR --- The Trail Blazers two losses to the Bulls last season were both down-to-the-wire affairs with the outcomes in doubt until the final seconds. Chicago pulled out a 110-106 victory on its own floor on Nov. 11 despite a 39-point effort by Clifford Robinson (one shy of his career best), and 51% field goal shooting by the Blazers. Two weeks later in Portland, Michael Jordan heroics in the final 28 seconds, a 15-foot jumper and then a steal and a driving layin, propelled the Bulls to a 107-104 victory. That took the luster off a big effort by Arvydas Sabonis (23 points), Rod Strickland (22) and Robinson (20). Clifford scored 59 points in the two games to lead Portland while Jordan paced the Bulls with 69. Both teams shot 52% for the series. The Blazers won the boards battle in both games with 47.5-30.0 advantage for the two games. A HOT, HOT HAND --- Gary Trent has stepped into the gap big time since power forward Rasheed Wallace, the team's fourth leading scorer (15.2 ppg) and the NBA's field goal percentage leader (.588), went down with a broken thumb Dec. 23 against Washington. Since moving into the starting rotation 19 games ago, the second-year player out of Ohio U. has averaged 15.0 points a game and more impressively has converted .594 of his shots from the field (114-of-192) and .803 ( 57-of-71) from the line. Four times in the last six games has matched his career high with 24-point efforts. And, in his last eight outings, he has blistered the nets at a 69% rate (60-of-88), while averaging 19.1 points. The effort has raised his season's field goal mark to .555, the league's fourth best mark. ON DEFENSE . . . Portland has the ninth toughest defense in the league to shoot against, holding foes to .436 field goal accuracy in 47 games . . . Twelve times they have kept opponents below the 40 percent mark and 26 times below 45 percent . . . In winning 25 games, the Blazers have held 21 opponents under 100 points and overall have allowed only 15 of 47 to top the century mark . . . Their defensive average, 95.3, is the league's 13th lowest. ON OFFENSE --- The Blazers have the eighth most productive offense in the league, averaging 98.3 points a contest . . . In winning 25 games, the Blazers margin of victory has been 13.1 ppg, with the cushion being 10 or more points in 13 games and 20 or more six times . . . Portland's overall point margin of +3.0 is the league's 11th best . . . The Blazers field goal accuracy mark of .456 is the 13th highest in the league . . . They have topped 50 percent field goal shooting 11 times . . . Of the Blazers 22 losses, 14 have been by six points or less, eight have been by three or under, and five have been one-pointers . . . Portland is 13-7 in games decided by 10 points or more but 6-10 when the margin is four points or under and 2-7 when its two or under. ON THE BOARDS --- Portland has outrebounded 38 of 47 opponents this season and nine times has claimed 50 or more misses in a game . . . The Blazers lead the NBA in total rebounding percentage---the share of total misses in a game a team rebounds---(.529), are third in defensive rebounding percentage (.721) and fourth in offensive percentage (.337) . . . The Blazers have an overall advantage of 5.9 boards per game and a 4.4 per game margin on the defensive glass . . . Among the top five rebounding teams in the league for the past nine years, Portland again is the leader despite not having an individual among the league's top 30. AMONG THE NBA LEADERS ---GARY TRENT, 4th in field goal percentage---.555 (203-370) ---ARVYDAS SABONIS, 25th in field goal percentage---.491 (195-397) and 24th in blocked shots (1.34), 30th in rebounding (8.1) ---KENNY ANDERSON , 14th in assists (6.9), is 15th in steals (1.83), 32nd in scoring (17.7), 36th in 3-point accuracy, .373 (75-201), 31st in minutes played (38.0) ---CHRIS DUDLEY, 23rd in blocked shots (1.43), 39th in rebounding (7.2) ---CLIFFORD ROBINSON, 25th in minutes played (38.5), 38th in blocked shots (0.89) Note: RASHEED WALLACE S field goal percentage of .588 (170-289) is the NBA's highest but dosen t qualify for the current league leaders chart because it is below the minimum makes required. THE LAST THREE GAMES WOLVES BY ONE --- The Blazers battled back from a 10-point deficit with 4:51 remaining to get within two but free throws by ex-Portland players Terry Porter (2-of-2) and James Robinson (4-of-5) in the final 38.7 seconds sealed a 103-102 victory for the Timberwolves in Minneapolis Sunday. The setback was the Blazers' fourth straight on the road, its longest streak of the season overall as well as away from home. Kenny Anderson topped Portland with 26 points and Gary Trent, who had his fourth career best-equalling 24-point effort in seven games, scored nine of his team's 23 points in the final 4:51. The Blazers shot 40% (34-85) and the Wolves 50% (35-70). The loss, the Blazers' second straight at Minnesota after winning 14 in a row there, finished the season's series in a 2-2 split. Portland had won all seven previous season's matchups with Minnesota. LEAD FLEES IN FLEET CENTER --- A 62-44 halftime lead didn t hold up for the Trail Blazers Friday as Boston came from behind in the final minute to post a 111-105 victory in the Fleet Center. After putting a season-best 62 points on the board in the first two quarters and still owning a nine-point lead with 5:35 remaining in the game, 94-85, the Blazers were outscored 26-11 down the stretch. The Celtics 63 points in the second has was an opponent season high versus Portland. Gary Trent led the Blazers with 24 points, the third time in six games he has equalled his career best. Rick Fox had a career-high 33 points to top Boston. Portland shot 49% (43-88) to Boston's 44% (41-93), but turned the ball over 22 times for 26 points compared with the Celtics 14 TOs (13 points). Dontonio Wingfield's career-high 12 rebounds paced Portland to a 48-44 advantage on the boards. COMING UP SHORT --- The Blazers jumped to an early 24-6 lead but it didn t hold up as they scored only 35 points in the middle two quarters and fell to Detroit in the Palace of Auburn Hills, 98-89, on Wednesday. The setback, Portland's second straight on its four-game Eastern road swing, allowed the Pistons to gain a split in the season series. Six Blazers scored in double figures in the game, led by Kenny Anderson's 14 points; Portland outshot Detroit from the field (48% to 43%) and had four more field goals (33-29) but still came up short. Grant Hill and Joe Dumars paced the Pistons with 27 and 20 points respectively. For the second straight game, the Blazers were outrebounded, this time 39-34. Chris Dudley had 10 boards to lead the Blazers effort. BLAZERS MILESTONES --- Clifford Robinson has moved past Geoff Petrie as Portland's fifth all-time leading scorer and now, with 9,908 points, needs 92 more to become only the fifth Trail Blazer to reach the 10,000 mark. The others are Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey and Jim Paxson . . . Robinson needs just two more games to pass Larry Steele in fifth place on Portland's all-time games played list. Going into Tuesday's game, Robinson has played in 609 of a possible 621 games during his seven-plus years as a Blazer. . . Kenny Anderson's season-high 15 assists at Phoenix on Jan. 24 allowed him to reach the 3,000 plateau in his career . . . Robinson and Chris Dudley both played in their 600th NBA game Jan. 17 versus Toronto. COMMUNITY CORNER DUDLEY HONORED BY USA WEEKEND . . . --- Blazers center Chris Dudley has been named one of five recipients of USA Weekend magazine's fourth annual Most Caring Athlete Awards. Other 1997 honorees recognized by the magazine for humanitarian efforts off the field are 49er quarterback Steve Young, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling, LPGA golfer Val Skinner and tennis star Chanda Rubin. Dudley, 1996 winner of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award presented by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, was recognized by USA Weekend for work among children and young adults. Diagnosed as a diabetic when he was 16, Dudley's charitable work includes a $100,000 gift to Oregon's Gales Creek Camp for diabetic youth; $300,000 to the I Have a Dream Foundation to sponsor college scholarships for 76 at-risk pupils at Portland's Vernon Elementary School when they finish high school, and last summer sponsoring Oregon s first basketball camp for diabetics. ANDERSON'S ASSISTS COUNTING UP --- Kenny Anderson has now dished out 326 assists for the season (6.9 per game, 14th best in the league). That means $6,520 so far for the Kids Making Miracles $1 million drive to fund a state-of-the-art health care facility at Portland's Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Anderson, honorary chairman of Kids Making Miracles, has pledged $20 for every assist he makes during the season. As part of the NBA's major youth initiative TeamUp, the Trail Blazers made a three-year commitment to help build public awareness of Kids Making Miracles, a volunteer organization of grade and high school students throughout Oregon and southwest Washington. DUDLEY, SMITH HELP KIDS FITNESS PROGRAM --- Center Chris Dudley and Mick Smith, Trail Blazers strength and conditioning coach, are teaming with G.I. Joe's and Nautilus Plus to present the G.I. Joe's Physical Fitness Program for youth in Oregon and southwest Washington. The 12-week program, which kicks off in January, aims to assist physical education teachers in grades one through eight to encourage their students to be involved in lifetime fitness activities. Smith and the Blazers have published an 18-page G.I. Joe's Physical Fitness Program workbook with specific routines to help teachers develop the program and Dudley and Smith have produced a videotape demonstrating the program's various exercises and tests. ATTENDANCE IN TOP THREE --- The Trail Blazers, despite playing in the league's fourth smallest market area, rank behind only Charlotte and Chicago in home game attendance as the season passes the midway point. All 22 Blazers home games thus far have been in the 20,000-plus category with total attendance 428,741 and the average through the Jan. 25 game versus Minnesota was 20,457. ROSE GARDEN RANKS NO. 2 --- In its first year, the Blazers Rose Garden finished as the North America's second-highest money-making concert venue behind only Detroit's Palace at Auburn Hills. The rating, done by Performance Magazine based on arenas with 20,000 or more seats, showed the Rose Garden staged 47 shows with a total attendance of 510,275 and gross revenue of $12.5 million. Other arenas in the top 10 included New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena (No. 3), Target Center in Minneapolis (No. 5), General Motors Place in Vancouver (No. 6), Boston's Fleet Center (No. 9) and Chicago's United Center (No. 10). P.J. CARLESIMO --- Head coach P.J. Carlesimo posted his 100th NBA career success Dec. 6 as his Blazers stopped Charlotte, 97-93. In his third season at the Portland helm, he became the fourth coach in franchise history to reach the century mark. The others are his three predecessors, Jack Ramsay (453-367, 55.2%), Mike Schuler (127-84, 60.2%) and Rick Adelman (291-154, 65.4%). P.J. currently is 113-98, 53.6%. Last season, Carlesimo guided Portland to a 44-38 record for the second year in a row. AN ALL-STAR BREAK --- After tonight s game with the World Champion Bulls, the Blazers take a six-day break for the NBA's All-Star Weekend. They return to action next Tuesday, hosting the Phoenix Suns (7 p.m., KEX Radio, BlazerVision), travel to Utah on Thursday, Feb. 13 (6 p.m., KEX Radio) then have back-to-back home games Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 15 and 16) against Houston and Boston respectively. THE PLAYERS KENNY ANDERSON --- Sunday at Minnesota: Team-high 26 pts (8-16 fgs, 2-6 3pt, 8-12 fts), 4 assists, 6 rbs, 2 steals, 39 minutes . . . Friday at Boston: 13 pts, team-best 6 assists, 6 rbs, 3 steals, 41 minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: Team-high 14 pts, 4 assists, 5 rbs, 26 minutes before being ejected at the 10:17 mark of 4th quarter after receiving his 2nd technical . . . Jan. 25 vs. Wolves: 19 pts, 3 rbs, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 47 minutes . . . Dished out a season-high 15 assists, scored 22 pts and had only 1 TO in 43 minutes at Phoenix last Friday ---his ninth double-double, his 10th double-figure assist game and 18th time at +20 points . . . Tuesday vs. Clippers: 15 pts, 4 rbs, 12 assists, 3 steals, 36 minutes . . . Scored a season-high 34 pts in a season-high 49 minutes Dec. 13 at the Lakers . . . Scored 32 points vs. Houston Nov. 26 . . . Has led team in scoring 13 times and in assists 28 times . . . Team's leading scorer at 17.7 ppg, the assists leader (6.9 avg.) and tops in steals (1.83 avg.) . . . Ranks 32nd in the NBA in scoring, 14th in assists, 15th in steals, 31st in minutes played (38.0) . . . Signed as a free agent July 23 . . . Played last season with New Jersey and Charlotte, averaging 15.2 points and 8.3 assists in 69 games . . . Played the previous four years with New Jersey . . . Nets 1st round draft choice (2nd overall) in 1991 . . . Starting East guard in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game . . . New Jersey's all-time assists leader. STACEY AUGMON --- Sunday at Minnesota: 4 pts (2-5 fgs), 3 rbs, 9 minutes . . . Friday at Boston: 0 pts, 2 rbs, 1 block, 9 minutes. . . Wednesday at Detroit: 0 pts, 1 assist, 7 minutes . . . Acquired Jan. 24 from Detroit in exchange for guards Randolph Childress, Reggie Jordan and Aaron McKie (joined team Saturday) . . . In 20 games with the Pistons, averaged 4.5 pts, 2.5 rbs and 14.6 minutes . . . Played his first five NBA seasons with Atlanta before being traded to Detroit last summer along with Grant Long for a conditional 1998 1st round draft pick, and second round picks in 1997 and 1998 . . . In five seasons with Atlanta, played 390 games, starting 355, and averaged 13.7 pts, 4.5 rbs, 2.3 assists, 1.46 steals and 30.5 minutes . . . Has registered 100 or more steals in four of his first five seasons . . . A 1992 All-NBA Rookie first team selection . . . Scored the NBA's 6 millionth point March 23, 1992 against Golden State . . . Had a career-high 36 points versus the Blazers on Jan. 3, 1995 . . . The youngest member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul . . . Played on two NCAA Final Four teams at UNLV, including the Runnin Rebels 1990 NCAA championship club. MARCUS BROWN --- Sunday at Minnesota: 2 pts (1-3 fgs), 2 assists, 8 minutes . . . Friday at Boston: 0 pts, 7 minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: Career-high 13 pts, 2 rbs, 1 assist, 1 steal, career-high 16 minutes . . . Played in his first NBA game against San Antonio Dec. 29, scoring 6 pts in 5 minutes---his first pro points came at 2:40 of 4th quarter on a three-pointer (his first attempt) from the left side . . . Activated Dec. 27 after spending the first 29 games of the season on th injured list (strained right groin) sustained in practice Oct. 29 . . . Portland's 2nd round draft pick (46th overall) in the 1996 NBA Draft . . . Second leading collegiate scorer in the nation last year at Murray State with a 26.4 average. MITCHELL BUTLER --- Sunday at Minnesota: 0 pts (0-1 fgs), 3 minutes . . . Friday at Boston: 0 pts, 1 assist, 7 minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 5 pts, 2 rbs, 1 assist, 1 steal, 20 minutes before fouling for first time this season (and 2nd time in his career) . . . Had season highs of 13 points, 8 rebounds, 33 minutes Jan. 14 vs. Detroit . . . Activated Dec. 13 after spending five games on injured list (tendonitis, both knees) . . . Obtained in trade, along with Rasheed Wallace, with Washington for Rod Strickland and Harvey Grant on July 15 . . . Averaged 6.4 points in 212 games over three seasons with the Bullets . . . Not drafted, he was signed as a free agent by the Bullets in 1993 after playing in more games than any player in UCLA history. CHRIS DUDLEY --- Sunday at Minnesota: 2 pts (1-3 fgs), 5 rbs, 30 minutes before fouling out for the second time this season with 2:53 remaining . . . Friday at Boston: 8 pts, 8 rbs, 1 block, in 19 foul-limited minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 7 pts, team-high 10 rbs, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 36 minutes . . . Scored season-high 12 pts Jan. 28 at Toronto . . . Blocked a season-high five shots Dec. 1 at Golden State . . . Had a season-high 13 rebounds at New Jersey Nov. 15 . . . Second on team in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and leader in blocked shots (1.43) despite starting just seven games . . . Ranks 19th in the league in blocks and 39th in rebounding . . . Blazers leader in rebounds and blocks last two seasons . . . 10th year in the league, the team's longest tenured player . . . Played in his 600th NBA game Jan. 17 versus Toronto and has played in all but two of the last 209 games . . . Named 1996 winner of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association in recognition of outstanding community service and charitable work . . . vs. Chicago last year: Averaged 7.0 pts, 11.5 rbs, 35.5 minutes in two starts and grabbed 16 rebounds in Game 1. RUBEN NEMBHARD --- Did not play (coach's decision) in last two games . . . Signed to 10-day contract Jan. 31 . . . Played 8 games for Utah after signing consecutive 10-day contracts through Jan. 26 . . . Averaged 4.0 pts, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 11.8 minutes for Jazz . . . Prior to joining Utah club on Jan. 6, played 18 games with Yakima in the CBA where he averaged 18.0 pts, 4.9 assists, 2.3 steals and was selected to play in the CBA All-Star game and was the league's Player of the Week on Nov. 23 . . . Played in Europe during the 1995-96 season . . . His senior season at Weber State, was selected Big Sky Conference Player of the Year while leading the BSC in scoring (19.9 ppg), steals (2.3 per game) and was the league's top rebounding guard (5.1 rpg). JERMAINE O'NEAL --- Sunday at Minnesota: 11 pts (4-7 fgs, 3-5 fts), 3 rbs, 14 minutes, his fourth double-digit scoring effort in the last 11 games . . . Friday at Boston: 7 pts, 6 rbs, 1 assist, 2 blocks . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 10 pts, 1 block, 16 minutes . . . Scored career-high 20 pts, tied career high with 6 rbs, 2 blocked shots, in career-high 25 minutes last Jan. 22 at Seattle . . . Scored 10 pts in 11 minutes vs. Detroit Jan. 14. . . Had a career-high 3 blocks vs. San Antonio, Dec. 29 . . . Became the youngest player ever to participate in an NBA regular season game Dec. 5 at Denver, entering the contest at 7:24 of the second period. He was 1-of-1 from the floor in three minutes of action . . . At 18 years, 1 month and 21 days, he was the youngest since the Lakers Kobe Bryant, who was 18 years, 2 months, 11 days when he appeared in his first game on Nov. 3 . . . Spent season s first 17 games on the injured list . . . Scored the first points as a pro on his 18th birthday on Oct. 13 against Sacramento . . . Portland's first round pick (17th overall) in the 1996 NBA Draft out of Eau Claire H.S. in Columbia, S.C. ISAIAH RIDER --- Sunday at Minnesota: 16 pts (6-17 fgs, 2-5 3pt, 2-3 fts), 3 rbs, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 41 minutes . . . Friday at Boston: 18 pts, 5 rbs, 2 assists, 2 steals, 38 minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 12 pts, 6 rbs, 2 assists, 41 minutes before fouling out for 1st time this season and 6th time in his career. . . Made 15 of 18 free throws, both career highs, while scoring 30 points in Jan. 16 win at Lakers (the free throw makes and attempts were the most ever by a Blazer vs. L.A.) . . . Has averaged 20.5 ppg in his last 17 outings . . . Grabbed a game and season-high 11 rebounds vs. Seattle Dec. 18 . . . Dished out a career-high 11 assists Nov. 26 at Houston . . . Came to Portland from Minnesota in a July 23 trade for James Robinson and Bill Curley and a conditional 1st round draft choice . . . Minnesota s 1993 first round draft choice (5th overall) from UNLV . . . Averaged 18.8 points in 229 games for the Wolves in three seasons . . . 1993-94 NBA All-Rookie First Team . . . Winner of the Gatorade Slam-Dunk title at the 1994 NBA All-Star Weekend. CLIFFORD ROBINSON --- Sunday at Minnesota: 15 pts (3-16 fgs, 2-5 3pt, 7-10 fts), season and team-high 10 rbs, team-high 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block in 41 minutes before fouling out with 1:47 remaining, his 4th DQ of the season and the third in the last six games . . . Has been team leader in assists nine times this season, one more than his total for the last three seasons combined . . . Friday at Boston: 21 pts, 4 rbs, 4 assists, 1 block, 43 minutes. . . Wednesday at Detroit: 11 pts, 1 rb, team-high 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 34 minutes . . . Matched his career high with 9 assists Jan. 25 vs. Minnesota . . . Grabbed season-high 9 rbs and had 23 pts Jan. 21 vs. Clippers . . . Poured in his 400th career three-pointer Dec. 12 versus Vancouver . . . Robinson has at least one trey in 41 of 47 games this season and with 437 stands third all-time among Blazers long-range shooters behind only Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler. . . Scored season-high 33 pts Dec. 10 vs. Orlando . . . Played a season-high 51 minutes (just two shy of his career high) vs. Indiana Nov. 3 . . . Ranks 25th in the NBA in minutes played (38.5) . . . Leading scorer the past two seasons . . . Averaged 21.1 points in 1995-96, league's 16th highest . . . Participated in his 600th game as a Blazer Jan. 17 against Toronto . . . Now fifth among Portland's all-time scoring leaders with 9,908 points . . . Ranks in top ten in 16 of 17 career categories . . . vs. Chicago last year: Led Blazers in scoring with a 29.5 average, including 39 points in Game 1, plus 5.5 rbs, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steal, 42.5 minutes in two starts. ARVYDAS SABONIS --- Placed on the injured list Jan. 24 because a hemotoma (deeply bruised) left calf sustained in a fourth quarter collision in Jan. 22 game at Seattle . . . Tallied 22 pts in a career high-equalling 41 minutes Jan. 19 vs. Utah. . . Has led Blazers in scoring on 8 occasions, in rebounding 21 times, and assists 3 times . . . Leads team in double-doubles with 11 . . . Scored career-high 33 points and had career high-equalling 11 field goals (on 14 attempts) and 8 free throws on a career-high 14 fts, plus a team-high 12 In the Jan. 4 win at Dallas . . . Equalled his career high with 26 points and had a game-high 13 rebounds Dec. 26 at Utah . . . Played a career-high 41 minutes in the Dec. 13 overtime loss at the Lakers . . Grabbed career-high 17 rebounds at Minnesota Nov. 7 . . . Team's leading rebounder (8.1 rpg) and second in blocked shots (1.34) . . . 25th in NBA field goal accuracy at .491 (195-397) and 24th in blocks . . On the NBA's All-Rookie first team last season, the first Blazer to make it since Sam Bowie in 1985 . . . Runner-up for the 1996 Schick Rookie of the Year and NBA Sixth Man honors . . . Was the first Blazers rookie in 15 years to score more than 1,000 points in a season . . . Gained his third Olympic Games medal during the summer in helping Lithuania to the Bronze at Atlanta . . . vs. Chicago last year: Scored a then career-high 23 points and posted 6 rbs, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block in 28 minutes of Game 2. Did not play (coach's decision) in Game 1. GARY TRENT --- Sunday at Minnesota: For fourth time in seven games matched career high with 24 pts (9-12 fgs, 6-7 fts), plus 6 rbs, 2 assists, 1 steal, 37 minutes . . . Friday at Boston: Team-high 24 pts, 5 rbs, 2 assists, 1 block, 34 minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 13 pts, 6 rbs, 1 assist, 2 steals, 30 minutes . . . Jan. 24 at Suns: Matched career high with game-high 24 pts (10-14 fgs), and tied career high with 13 rbs in 36 minutes --- 10 field goals also a career high . . . In his last eight games has blistered the nets at a 68% clip, hitting 60-of-88, which raised his season field goal percentage to .555, the league's fourth best mark . . . Scored career-high 24 pts (9-11 fgs, 6-6 fts) in 32 minutes at Seattle Jan. 22 . . . Played a career-high 44 minutes and scored 19 points Jan. 2 at Houston . . . Claimed a game and career-high 13 rbs in 25 minutes Nov. 26 at Denver . . .. . . Averaged 7.5 points (14th highest for an NBA rookie) in 69 games as a Blazer last season . . . First round draft pick (11th overall) by Milwaukee in 1995 . . . Portland acquired his draft rights in an exchange involving Shawn Respert's draft rights . . . . vs. Chicago last year: Sbrtshrf 4.5 pts, 3.0 rbs, 15.0 minutes in two games, including a start in Game 2. RASHEED WALLACE --- Placed on injured list Dec. 27 after surgery on his thumb . . . Dec. 23 vs. Washington: 5 pts (2-2 fgs), 1 rb, 16 minutes before leaving game with a fractured left thumb in the second quarter . . Tallied a career and team season-high 38 pts on career-high 17 of 25 fgs in 40 minutes at Sacramento Dec. 21---previous highs of 32 pts, 15-20 fgs, came Nov. 5 at Golden State . . . Converted a career-high 11 free throws (in 15 tries) while scoring 29 points in the Dec. 13 OT loss at the Lakers . . . Grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds vs. Vancouver Dec. 12 . . . Was No. 1 among NBA's field goal percentage shooters (.588 on 170-289) when he went down with the injury . . . His 32 points at Golden State Nov. 5 was the first 30-plus game of his career . . . Acquired by Portland, along with Mitchell Butler, from Washington in exchange for Rod Strickland and Harvey Grant on July 15 . . . 1996 NBA All-Rookie second team selection . . . Started 51 of 65 games he appeared in as a rookie and averaged 10.1 points a game . . . Selected in the first round (4th pick overall) by the Bullets in the 1995 NBA Draft . . . Second team sophomore All-American at North Carolina before becoming an early entry draft candidate. ENNIS WHATLEY --- Sunday at Minnesota: 0 pts (0-1 fgs), 1 rb, 2 minutes. . . Friday at Boston: Did not play (coach's decision) . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 4 pts, 1 assist, 7 minutes . . . Made his first appearance Tuesday at Raptors with 0 pts, 2 rbs, 2 assists in 13 minutes . . . Signed to a 10-day contract on Friday, Jan. 24 . . . Had been playing for Connecticut in the CBA where he was averaging 15.2 points (team's 4th highest), and 9.5 assists (the CBA's 2nd highest) in 26 games, while shooting .540 from the field . . . Is making his second appearance as a Blazer . . . Was a member of the 1991-92 Western Conference Champions that took Chicago to six games in the NBA Finals . . . Has played for six teams---Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland and Atlanta---in the NBA over nine seasons after being the Bulls second pick (13th) overall in the 1983 NBA Draft . . . Averaged 5.6 pts, 4.5 assists and 18.5 minutes in 382 previous NBA games . . . As a rookie point guard with the Bulls in 1983-84, distributed 662 assists (8.3 avg.), 8th best in the league. DONTONIO WINGFIELD --- Sunday at Minnesota: 2 pts (0-4 fgs, 0-1 3pt, 2-2 fts), 7 rbs, 16 minutes . . . Friday at Boston :14 pts, career-high 12 rbs (old high 9 twice last year), 2 assists, 2 blocks, 24 minutes . . . Wednesday at Detroit: 0 pts, 7 minutes . . . Scored season-high 16 points at Phoenix Jan. 24 . . . Played season-high 27 minutes vs. the Lakers Jan. 6 . . . Placed on injured list Dec. 13 (sprained left thumb suffered in Dec. 12 game with Vancouver) . . . Averaged 3.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 44 games with Portland last season . . . Signed as a free agent in 1995 after playing the 1994-95 season with Seattle . . . Second round draft choice (37th overall) by Seattle in 1994 . . . Became an early entry draft candidate after one year of collegiate basketball at the University of Cincinnati . . . vs. Chicago last year: Scoreless with 2 rbs in 17 minutes. John Christensen Chuck Charnquist ************************************************************ Send subscribe/unsubscribe messages to majordomo@ripcity.com ************************************************************