The AP reports: Greg Oden had four points and seven rebounds in his first pro game in his hometown, and the Trail Blazers beat the Indiana Pacers 95-85… Brandon Roy, who led the Trail Blazers with 20 points, said he has tried to encourage Oden… Travis Outlaw had 15 points, and Steve Blake added 14 points and eight assists for the Trail Blazers. Indiana’s Danny Granger had 35 points and 10 rebounds in his first start since leaving a game Feb. 18 against Charlotte because of a partially torn tendon in his right foot. Indiana coach Jim O’Brien had little to say about Granger’s performance.
Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog
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Aldridge scores 22, Blazers beat Grizzlies 103-92
The AP reports: LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and eight rebounds and Brandon Roy finished with 20 points and nine assists to lead the Portland to a 103-92 victory over the Grizzlies on Monday night… Travis Outlaw added 18 points and Joel Przybilla had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who are trying to reach the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since 2003… O.J. Mayo scored 21 points and handed out six assists to lead Memphis, which lost its 13th game in the last 15. Mike Conley had 20 points, and Rudy Gay scored 17 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Hakim Warrick finished with 15 points on 7-of-10 from the floor.
Johnson scores 35, Hawks beat Blazers 98-80
The AP reports: Joe Johnson scored 35 points, Josh Smith had 19 points and eight rebounds, and the Hawks beat the Portland Trail Blazers 98-80 on Sunday for their fifth consecutive victory… Brandon Roy finished with 29 points for the Blazers, who have lost two of three. Portland dropped a half-game behind Denver for the Northwest Division lead and fell out of a three-way tie with the Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets for fourth place in the Western Conference… LaMarcus Aldridge had 13 of his 19 points in the third for Portland, which had won three straight and 12 of 13 against Atlanta.
Roy has 31 and Blazers beat Nets 109-100
The AP reports: Brandon Roy figured his shots had to start falling eventually—and they did. He wound up with 31 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the New Jersey Nets 109-100 on Friday night… Nicolas Batum hit a 3-pointer to make it 101-96 with 29 seconds left and seal it. The rookie from France had a career-high 20 points. LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Portland. Devin Harris scored 27 points for the New Jersey, which has lost five of seven. The Nets were coming off a 116-112 loss at Golden State which denied them a chance to move into playoff position.
Dirk scores 29, Mavericks beat Trail Blazers 93-89
The AP reports: Dallas remained in eighth place in the West after Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mavericks to a 93-89 win over Portland on Wednesday night. Better things aren?t far out of Dallas? reach, though, as the Mavericks won for the seventh time in nine games. “This is big for our confidence right now,” said Dallas guard Jason Terry, who scored 24 points… LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Roy had 22 points and eight rebounds. Joel Przybilla pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for the Blazers. Jason Kidd was three points short of a triple double, with seven points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
NBA suspends Lamar Odom one game
Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended one game without pay for leaving the immediate vicinity of the bench during an altercation, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with two seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 111-94 victory over the Lakers at Rose Garden in Portland last night.
Odom will serve his suspension tomorrow night when the Lakers face the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
NBA rules state that players who are benched at the time of an altercation must stay there.
A Lakers-Rockets matchup is always worth watching. Houston has done very well despite not having aging star shooting guard Tracy McGrady, and Los Angeles has looked terrific despite not having young-and-upcoming, starting center Andrew Bynum.
Without Odom, some responsibility to step up falls on the shoulders of Ariza, Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga.
Roy scores 27, Blazers beat Lakers 111-94
The AP reports: Rudy Fernandez was injured when he was fouled hard late in the third quarter of Portland’s 111-94 victory Monday night. He was taken from the court strapped to a stretcher, his neck in a brace. “Just the way it played out—it’s hard to watch your teammate over there laying down and they’re bringing out stretchers. That was a tough moment for all of us,” said Brandon Roy, who led the Blazers with 27 points… Travis Outlaw had 22 points for the Blazers, who have won 12 straight at the Rose Garden. Joel Przybilla added 12 points and 18 rebounds, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Kobe Bryant had 26 points, while Pau Gasol had 18 for the Lakers, who haven’t won at the Rose Garden in their last seven tries, with their last victory on Feb. 23, 2005.
Rudy Fernandez injury update
Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez sustained a soft tissue injury to his right upper chest and side area in the third quarter of Monday night’s game vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. X-Rays and CT scan were both negative.
The injury happened at the end of the third quarter as he went up at the rim but was fouled by Trevor Ariza, who was issued a flagrant-2 for his excessive contact.
Fernandez will be kept overnight at an area hospital for observation. He is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. the Dallas Mavericks.
In 25.9 minutes per game this season, Fernandez is averaging 10.5 points and 2.9 rebounds on 41.8% shooting.
Details about what led to his injury are here.
Trevor Ariza ejected after hard foul on Rudy Fernandez, Video added
UPDATE: Portland G Rudy Fernandez sustained a soft tissue injury to his right upper chest and side area in the third quarter of Monday night’s game vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. X-Rays and CT scan were both negative. Fernandez will be kept overnight at an area hospital for observation. He is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. the Dallas Mavericks.
INITIAL NOTES:
Monday night in Portland the Trail Blazers were hosting the Los Angeles Lakers. Enjoying a late third quarter 83-55 lead, it was Portland’s night.
Pau Gasol had been the only Laker playing well, shooting 7-of-12 for 18 points and 13 assists. His teammates, including Kobe Bryant (8-of-22, 16 points) were struggling.
With just 0.8 seconds seconds left in the third, a Blazers fast break resulted in Rudy Fernandez catching a pass going right down the middle of the paint. As he jumped at the basket to score, Lakers swingman Trevor Ariza swooped in from behind and swung his right arm sideways in very broad fashion, hitting Rudy’s arms and the back of his head near the neck area.
Ariza really followed through on the swipe, and snagged Rudy’s wrist in the end.
Fernandez totally lost his balance due to the contact and slammed down hard on the court, landing on his back while slightly twisted onto his right side, and crumbled over.
Both teams immediately rushed over, grabbing and pushing each other right in front of the Lakers bench, but I didn’t see any actual punches thrown.
An angry Brandon Roy yelled furiously at Ariza. Others jawed as well. Ariza was yelling stuff at other Blazers, too. He’s out of line here.
It appears that Lamar Odom left the Lakers bench, very briefly, just a few feet away. I’m not sure how far he went. He barely went anywhere.
A flagrant-2 was called on Ariza, which means he’s ejected.
A stretcher has been brought out to safely remove Fernandez, who is lying on his back, from the court. He’s been put down on the stretcher, covered with a blanket, and strapped down onto it securely, which is always an extremely scary sight to see.
Aside from the flagrant-2 called on Ariza, technical fouls were called on Blazers LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and Laker Josh Powell.
Later in the game it was reported by Blazers television that Fernandez has chest pains and is being taken to a hospital.
I’m guessing Ariza could be suspended one game. But that’s no guarantee. But Odom could be suspended for leaving the bench, though I didn’t see if he went far enough away from it to warrant such an action.
Here’s a video of Ariza’s foul on Fernandez:
–Jeff
Josh Howard out two games
Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard has a sore left ankle, will remain in Dallas and will miss the next two games in order to have more specialized testing done.
The Mavs don’t play tonight but begin a four-game road trip Tuesday night in Phoenix.
After facing the Suns they’ll visit the Trail Blazers, Warriors and Lakers, so this is a tough time for any key players to be unavailable.
Howard this season in 32.3 minutes per game is averaging 18.0 points (third on the team), 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists, shooting 45.6% from the field, with very few steals or blocks.