NBA

NEW ORLEANS — Jamal Crawford decided to speak up before another road game got away from the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I told them we weren't going to lose this game. Period," the former Rainier Beach High School standout recalled when describing his animated comments during a Portland timeout.

Crawford made sure of that himself, scoring a season-high 31 points, and Portland snapped a two-game skid while handing New Orleans its eighth straight loss, 94-86 on Friday night.

Newly selected All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace each scored 14 points to help Portland pull out only its fourth road win after trailing much of the game.

"Sometimes it's not about how you win, but the fact that you win," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "New Orleans played hard and scrapped and played a good game. We did the things we needed to do down the stretch."

Crawford, playing 30 minutes in a reserve role, scored 12 of his points during a 15-5 Portland run that began late in the third quarter and gave the Blazers a six-point lead early in the fourth.

Trevor Ariza had 23 points and nine rebounds for New Orleans, which briefly led 78-77 in the middle of the fourth quarter before losing for the 23rd time in 25 games.

Lin does it again

NEW YORK — Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85.

Buried deep on the bench a little more than a week ago, Lin led the Knicks to their fourth straight win with the highest-scoring game by a Knicks player this season.

"The only thing we established tonight is four (wins) in a row," he said. "Now we try to go for five tomorrow. I'm not too worried about proving anything to anybody. As a team we're growing and trying to build on the momentum."

Bryant finished with 34 points, but he got off to a horrendous start and finished only 11 of 29 from the field.

Friday's highlights

Mavericks 104, at Timberwolves 97

Dirk Nowitzki welcomed Kevin Love back from his two-game suspension with a season-high 33 points, helping Dallas stave off a Minnesota rally.

Love finished with 32 points and 12 rebounds, going 14 for 14 from the free-throw line, and sparked a late-third-quarter surge by the Wolves.

Bucks 113, at Cavs 112 (OT)

Brandon Jennings scored 24 points and made a big layup in overtime as Milwaukee rallied past Cleveland, which was without rookie guard Kyrie Irving, who is expected to miss two games with a concussion.

Bulls 95, at Bobcats 64

Joakim Noah had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Carlos Boozer scored 16 points, and Chicago beat Charlotte without Derrick Rose, who sat out with a lower back strain.

Notes

• Manu Ginobili will return to San Antonio's lineup on Saturday in New Jersey after missing more than a month with a broken left hand."

• Charlotte guard Jarrett Jack is expected to be out at least a week because of knee soreness.