The Portland Trail Blazers finally came up big against the Mavericks by going big.

Rather than continue to plug holes in a depleted backcourt, Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks elected to start 6-9 Zach Randolph in Game 4.

In person, Randolph looks closer to 6-6, but he played much bigger in a 98-79 win Sunday in the Rose Garden. Randolph had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Blazers.

The Associated Press reports that Blazers guard Derek Anderson is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

An MRI Thursday revealed that Anderson had torn the medial meniscus in his left knee. The injury occurred three minutes into Game 2 of their playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks.

Anderson has surgery Saturday to repair the torn cartilage. The surgery was performed by team physician DR. Don Roberts. There isn't a timetable set for his return as of now.

Blazers guard Derek Anderson is out indefinitely due to torn cartilage in his left knee according to Anne M. Peterson of the associated press.

"All I know is that I talked to D.A. last night. He has a meniscus tear and is out indefinitely," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said at Friday morning's shoot-around.

It is unknown if Anderson will need surgery to repair the knee or not.

Meanwhile, Scottie Pippen is feeling better, but is unsure if he will play in Game 4 of the Blazer series against the Mavericks.

"I'm feeling better," he said. "But I can't say that I'm ready to go."

The Blazers trail the series 3-0.

Art Garcia of the Star-Telegram reports that Scottie Pippen and Derek Anderson could miss Game 3 of the Blazers series against Dallas.

Anderson banged his knee in the first quarter of Game 2 and exited for good. Anderson, who was awaiting results of an MRI performed on Thursday, is likely a game time decision.

Pippen is likely a game time decision as well.

"I'm hoping I feel better [today], but I can't say yes to that," Pippen said Thursday, when asked if he could play tonight or in Game 4 here Sunday. "I don't know if I'll be able to give it a try [today] , but, if the series is extended ..."

Scottie Pippen's surgically repaired knee is giving him so much trouble that Pippen may not be able to play in the Blazers next game according to the associated press.

"I'm pretty sore right now," he said Tuesday. "I've got some swelling. Unfortunately, I'm sort of day-to-day. It's going to be a wait-and-see type of situation."

Pippen says he will not be pain free during this playoff run.

"There's not enough time for me to heal and be able to play at the level that I play at," he said.

While the Blazers practiced, Pippen was in the pool doing water therapy to try and get his knee as ready as possible.

"That's all I can really do," he said. "It's pretty difficult. I knew that when I came back I'd have to deal with some swelling here and there, but I didn't think it would be to this magnitude. It's been bothering me a lot more than we anticipated."

"We need him to be somewhat healthy to give us a boost," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We'll have to see where his knee will take us. If it's not ready to go, we'll have to find somebody else."

A proposed fan boycott of Sunday's Trail Blazer game  against the Lakers at Portland never got off the ground.

The announced crowd of 20,580 for the home team's 101-99 victory "was closer to the truth than it is most nights," noted John Canzano of the Portland Oregonian, whose colleague, Steve Duin, had urged fans to stay away in protest of the "Jail Blazers" and their numerous brushes with the law.

"As protests go," Canzano wrote, "this whole fan thing sort of fizzled.

"There were only a handful of empty seats. There were only a few angry signs. And the demonstration planned by a pack of fed-up Blazer fans?

"Well, the picketing mob outside the Rose Garden swelled to six before one guy left to go home and mow his lawn."

Now that Jerry Krause is gone from Chicago could it be time for the Bulls to finally start to re-assemble a championship team.... from the past?

Lacy J. Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times reports: Scottie Pippen recently said that he holds no bitter feelings towards Krause and if he met with him he'd "buy him a beer", but Pippen's kind words about the Bulls do not stop here.

In a surprising spin Pippen, 36, will become a free agent this summer and hopes Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf will keep him in mind.

''If [the Bulls] were to offer me a spot on the roster for at least the mid-level exception [roughly $4.6 million] and a place in management helping to build the team, I would be crazy not to consider it,'' Pippen said. ''If Michael Jordan and other former Bulls like John Paxson and B.J. Armstrong were also in the plan, that would sound like a winner.''

In his fourth season with the Trail Blazers, Pippen recently expressed his dismay over the numerous off-court incidents that have earned Portland the tag ''Jail Blazers.''

''We've had some problems, but I think they are behind us now and we obviously have a very talented team that is capable of doing well in the playoffs,'' Pippen said. ''Then when the season is over, my first preference would be to re-sign with the Blazers because they are a fine organization and they are very good to me. But since nothing is guaranteed, I have to keep all my options open. And if I got the opportunity to play for the Bulls or the Los Angeles Lakers, I'd have to consider them.''

The smoke around this smoldering basketball team known as the Trail Blazers began to clear Thursday night, leaving all who gathered at the Rose Garden to gawk at the shiner on Ruben Patterson's left eye and begin wondering how this team would respond to its latest misdeed.

The initial returns were not good, as the Blazers appeared emotionally drained and lifeless from a week's worth of drama during a crucial 93-88 loss to the Utah Jazz.

With eight games remaining, the Blazers (46-28) are .004 percentage points ahead of Minnesota (47-29) for the fourth seed in the Western Conference and 11/2 games ahead of Utah (45-30), which sits in sixth place.

Karl Malone had 21 points and nine assists, and John Stockton had 15 points and 10 assists as the Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers 93-88 Thursday night.

Matt Harpring added 17 points, including a 3-pointer with 17.1 seconds left that sealed the victory for the Jazz, who have won seven of eight and are within two games of the Blazers and Minnesota for the fourth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Jazz got 12 key points off the bench from backup center Tony Massenburg, all in the first half. Massenburg's final five baskets, in fact, were part of Utah's last 14 points of the half.
     
"He had a real nice run," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of Massenburg, who shot 6-of-9 from the field. "He was terrific."