NBA – Aldridge in another Blaze of glory

PORTLAND (NBA) - The word unstoppable comes to mind when watching LaMarcus Aldridge play for the Portland Trail Blazers these days.

The Chicago Bulls sure couldn't do anything with the power forward on Monday night as he scored 42 points in a 109-103 win for the Blazers.

Aldridge, 25, is averaging 21.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game this season for Portland (28-24), who are eighth in the Western Conference standings and just two games behind seventh-place Denver.

Passed over for the All-Star Game, Aldridge now has back-to-back 40-point games.

He had 40 in his team's previous clash at home, a 99-86 triumph over Western Conference leaders San Antonio.

On Monday, Aldridge was 15 of 23 from the floor and 12 of 14 at the free-throw line.

Also for the Blazers, Spain international Rudy Fernandez had 18 points and France's Nicolas Batum poured in 12.

The Dallas Mavericks piled on the misery for Cleveland, sending the Cavaliers to their 25th consecutive defeat.

Jason Terry came off the bench and scored 23 points for the Mavs (36-15).

Spain's Pau Gasol had 17 points, nine rebounds and two blocks to lead the Los Angeles Lakers (36-16) past the Memphis Grizzlies (27-26).

Gasol's brother, Marc, also a Spain international, had 12 rebounds and two blocks to go with his 10 points for Memphis but was just five of 14 from the floor.

Minnesota surprised the Hornets 104-92 in New Orleans with Team USA's Kevin Love scoring 27 points and corralling 17 rebounds.

Houston (25-28) prevailed 108-103 at Denver despite Carmelo Anthony's 50 points for the Nuggets (30-22).

Argentina's Luis Scola had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who were led by Kevin Martin's 37 points.

In other Western Conference games, Utah edged Sacramento 107-104 and Phoenix prevailed 104-92 at Golden State.

The Eastern Conference leaders, Boston, slumped to a 94-89 defeat at Charlotte (22-29) with Gerald Wallace's 19 points and 16 boards pacing the Bobcats.

The Celtics are 38-13 and own a one-game lead over Miami (37-14), while Charlotte are ninth and trail Indiana (21-27) by a half-game.

FIBA