LaMarcus Aldridge teased Gerald Wallace about how the Portland crowd responded when Wallace refused to back down against the Los Angeles Lakers.
"They chanted your name so loud, I started chanting with them," Aldridge said. "Ger-ald Wall-ace."
Aldridge had 24 points and 11 rebounds, but Wallace -- with his physical play and his refusal to get rattled even when pestered by Ron Artest -- got the Rose Garden cheers in the Trail Blazers' 93-86 victory over the Lakers on Friday night.
Wallace finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers, who helped prevent the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers from locking up the second seed in the Western Conference.
Kobe Bryant had 24 points in the Lakers' fourth straight loss.
"These guys just don't want to play hard right now," Lakers coach Phil Jackson lamented. "I hate to have this setup going into the playoffs when we're just not playing hard."
Artest hit a pair of 3-pointers that pulled the Lakers to 82-73 late. Aldridge made a jumper but Bryant had a pair of layups that narrowed it to 84-77.
Portland answered with Nicolas Batum's 3-pointer and Wallace's layup that extended the lead to 89-77 and all but sealed the win with 1:14 left.
Andre Miller finished with 12 points and 13 assists for Portland, which led by as many as 24 points.
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