The AP reports: Brandon Roy made a 30-foot jumper as time expired in overtime to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a thrilling 101-99 win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night. LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who snapped a five-game losing streak to the Rockets in a game that featured three dramatic shots in the final 1.9 seconds. Roy first hit a turnaround 21-footer that put the Blazers up 98-96 and sent a sold-out Rose Garden into a frenzy. But Yao Ming scored and drew a foul against Roy on the other end with 0.8 seconds left, then made the free throw to give Houston the lead. Portland called timeout and the inbounds play went to Roy, who swished the winner to send a charge through the delirious crowd.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Portland, Aldridge had 27 and 9 plus 3 blocks. Brandon Roy (just 6-of-18) had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists (but 5 turnovers). Rudy Fernandez (5-of-9, 3-of-5 three-pointers) scored 15 off the bench. Travis Outlaw (5-of-12) had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks off the bench. Steve Blake had 8 points and 8 assists. For Houston, Tracy McGrady (11-of-23) had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Luis Scola (7-of-10) had 14 points and 4 rebounds. Aaron Brooks (5-of-9) scored 14 off the bench. Yao Ming (4-of-13) had just 13 points and 6 rebounds. Ron Artest had a mere 10 points and 4 assists.
Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan is one win shy of 1,000 victories as head coach of the Jazz. With the win, Sloan will be the first head coach in NBA history to achieve 1,000 wins with one team. The Jazz head coach currently holds an overall record of 1093-717 and a 999-596 record with the Jazz.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports: Kevin Love’s days of coming off the bench might be nearing an end. The Timberwolves rookie forward played 15 more minutes than starting power forward Ryan Gomes Wednesday night in the Wolves’ 129-125 double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Love scored 14 points in 37 minutes. That’s the most extensive playing time yet for Love, who was matched against Spurs star Tim Duncan for much of the night and held his own, blocking three shots and grabbing nine rebounds.
The Sacramento Bee reports: Beno Udrih continues to struggle, which leads me to relate tidbits from a conversation I had recently wiith an NBA scout. The scout – who shall remain nameless, for obvious reasons – asked if the Kings’ point guard was hurt. He thought something was wrong. My take on Beno is this: he missed most of training camp with a strained hip and is playing his way into shape. He seems a half-step slow. His timing is off. And his confidence appears to be shaken. He had two excellent drives in the second half, though, so maybe that will give him a boost.