Charlotte: Wesley Matthews said he had a funny feeling on the way to the arena that his shooting slump might be coming to end.Call it a shooter's instinct.
Matthews scored a season-high 28 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the

Charlotte Hornets 105-97 on Wednesday night for their ninth consecutive victory. The fifth-year NBA veteran was 10 of 15 from the field and 6 of 9 from 3-point range as Portland (12-3) improved to 7-0 against Eastern Conference teams.

Over the previous five games, Matthews was 25 of 57 from the field and just 8 of 25 from 3-point range.Matthews said he never put pressure on himself during that stretch.

The Trail Blazers have been getting production from up and down the lineup and that continued against Charlotte.

Even with LaMarcus Aldridge struggling through a 3-of-18 shooting night, the Trail Blazers prevailed, getting 22 points from Damian Lillard and 15 points and 10 rebounds from Robin Lopez.
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Brian Roberts had a career-high 24 points for the Hornets, who have lost seven straight and nine of 10. Al Jefferson had 21 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double.

The Hornets led 56-45 at the break behind Roberts, who made his first six shots and had 15 points.Portland outscored Charlotte 34-20 in the third quarter and took the lead for good with 4:07 left in the period when Lopez scored on a layup.