Dickerson scored 27 points while Bibby added 15 points and seven assists to lead the Vancouver Grizzlies to an 89-87 upset over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.

  "It's rough," said Bibby, who like Dickerson played his rookie year in last year's strike-shortened season. "It's not as easy as people think. It's not as easy as it looks. Before the game, I can feel the games wearing at me. But once I'm out there I have energy and I think I bring energy to the team. That's what I need to do every game."

  Vancouver led the high-scoring Portland team by as many as 20 points in the first half before letting them back into the game. Dickerson, the Grizzlies' candidate for most improve player this season, led the attack, scoring 18 points in the first half, including 4-for-5 from behind the arc.

  "We're just playing to win," said Dickerson, who has averaged more than 23 points in his last four games. "I mean, we've always been playing to win but now we know we're not going to the playoffs so we're just coming out and trying to have some fun and knock some people down."

  The Trail Blazers, who never led in the game, cut the lead to 88-84 with 2:28 left in the game. From then on it was end-to-end with neither team registering a basket. With 17.9 seconds left Damon Stoudamire missed a layup and Dennis Scott came down with the rebound. Abdur-Rahim then hit a free throw to put Vancouver up by five. Detlef Schrempf cut the lead to two after he hit a basket and a free throw.

  "That was an unbelievable win," said Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins. "We showed a lot of mental toughness. I was really proud of the way our guys played against the calibre of this team and their need to come back and win." Abdur-Rahim scored 18 points while Othella Harrington added 15 for Vancouver. The Grizzlies, who beat the Houston Rockets Tuesday night to set a new franchise high for victories, have won two in a row and 21 on the season.

  Wallace led the Trail Blazers with 28 points and added eight rebounds while Steve Smith finished with 14 points. Scottie Pippen was held to just nine points.

  "We allowed them to get out on us in the first quarter and put us at a point where it was too much of a debt to get back into the game," said Pippen. "Even the run that we made in the second half it just wasn't enough to overcome what we had suffered in the first quarter."

  The Trail Blazers have found themselves in a mini-slump with three wins in their past seven games. They've lost two in a row for just the fifth time this season.

  The Grizzlies went on a 19-6 run in a six-minute span and shot 65 per cent from the field for a 32-18 lead after the first quarter. Vancouver continued to pour it on in the second, leading by as many as 20 points, before settling for a 56-41 lead at the half.

  "Our problem right now is that we're not starting the games off well," said Pippen. "It's frustrating. We're trying to set ourselves up to play well in the playoffs. Right now, with seven games left, I don't know if that's enough what we need back."

Summary

PORTLAND (87)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Oneal           14   1-3   0-0   0-0  0  1    2
Pippen          27   3-8   2-2   3-9  5  2    9
Wallace         43 13-20   2-2   3-8  0  2   28
Smith           32  5-10   3-3   0-1  0  2   14
Stoudamire      31  3-14   0-0   1-3  6  2    7
Wells           25  3-12   3-3   5-7  1  4    9
B Grant         22   1-7   0-0   1-3  2  2    2
Schrempf        22   2-3   5-5   1-3  3  3    9
Anthony         17   2-6   0-0   1-4  2  1    5
Augmon           7   1-3   0-0   0-0  1  1    2
G Grant        DNP - coach's decision
Harvey         DNP - coach's decision
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         240 34-86 15-15 15-38 20 20   87
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.395, FT-1.000. 3-Point Goals:
4-16, .250 (Pippen 1-2, Wallace 0-1, Smith 1-2,
Stoudamire 1-5, Wells 0-3, Anthony 1-3). Team
rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 5 (Oneal 2, Wallace
2, Anthony). Turnovers: 12 (Wells 4, Pippen 3,
Smith 2, Anthony, Schrempf, Stoudamire). Steals:
8 (Pippen 2, Schrempf 2, Anthony, Augmon, Smith,
Wells).


VANCOUVER (89)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Abdur-rahim     40  6-13   5-6   2-9  7  4   18
Harrington      40  6-11   3-4   2-9  1  3   15
Reeves          19   1-1   1-2   0-3  2  3    3
Bibby           43  7-14   0-1   2-4  9  1   15
Dickerson       46 10-18   3-5   1-4  3  3   27
Ekezie          12   1-3   3-4   1-4  0  1    5
Scott           23   1-3   1-1   0-2  2  4    4
Lopez           12   1-2   0-0   2-4  1  1    2
Palacio          5   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Carr           DNP - leg injury
Parks          DNP - coach's decision
West           DNP - sore left knee
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         240 33-66 16-23 10-39 25 20   89
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.696. 3-Point Goals:
7-13, .538 (Abdur-rahim 1-1, Bibby 1-4, Dickerson
4-5, Scott 1-3). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots:
7 (Abdur-rahim 2, Harrington 2, Reeves, Scott,
Dickerson). Turnovers: 17 (Bibby 5, Harrington 5,
Abdur-rahim 2, Scott 2, Dickerson, Palacio).
Steals: 10 (Reeves 3, Bibby 2, Dickerson 2,
Abdur-rahim, Ekezie, Scott).
____________________________________________
Portland           18   23   28   18  -   87
Vancouver          32   24   19   14  -   89
____________________________________________
Technical fouls: Portland 1 (Wallace, 2:06 2nd).
Flagrant fouls: None.  A: 12,234. T: 2:18.
Officials: Luis Grillo, Hugh Evans, Bill Kennedy.

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