14 and counting as Sixers fall to Portland

Philadelphia, PA -- LaMarcus Aldridge had 33 points and 11 rebounds to help the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers beat the winless Philadelphia 76ers 114-104 on Monday.

Wesley Matthews added 17 points for the Blazers, who have won eight in a row. Damian Lillard tallied 16 points.

Michael Carter-Williams ended with 24 points and seven rebounds for the Sixers (0-14). Henry Sims and Tony Wroten had 22 and 20 points, respectively.

"Nobody is rolling over or pointing fingers," 76ers coach Brett Brown said despite his team being just four defeats away from the New Jersey Nets' NBA record for losses to start a given season. "This locker room is great." 

Each of Philly's next four games -- home against Brooklyn on Wednesday, home against Dallas on Saturday, welcoming San Antonio next Monday and at Minnesota next Wednesday are all winnable and losable at the same time. 

The Sixers led 52-50 following a first half that featured seven lead changes and 13 ties.

Trailing 62-59 with nine minutes left in the third quarter, the Blazers went on a 21-6 run. Aldridge tallied eight points during the surge that Nicolas Batum capped with a slam for an 80-68 lead.

Aldridge and Lillard scored 15 and 10 points, respectively, in the third to help Portland grab an 89-80 advantage. The Blazers outscored Philadelphia by a 39-28 margin in the period.

The Sixers used a 9-0 run to get within 100-93 with 4:22 to play. However, Portland responded with a 7-2 spurt to put the game away.

"That was a tough game, both teams kind of got off to a slow start," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "I think you really have to give credit to Philly for the way they got after us defensively... We did much better, obviously, at both end of the court in the second half."

Notes: Portland is 9-1 when scoring 100-plus points and 6-0 against Eastern Conference opponents ... It is the worst start for the Sixers since they opened the 1972-73 campaign 0-15 ... Robin Lopez had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Blazers ... Nerlens Noel tallied 12 points, three steals and two blocks for the 76ers.