Portland Trail Blazers Blog – Page 83 – NBA Blog

Grizzlies sign Darius Miles

The Memphis Grizzlies announced today that they have signed free agent forward Darius Miles. Terms of the deal were not disclosed per team policy.

“Darius has been an active, productive player in the past,” said Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace. “He did a good job with the Celtics in preseason and we look forward to working with him.”

The third overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Miles played six NBA seasons (2000-06) with Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. The 6-9, 235-pound forward averaged 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.15 blocks in 27.7 minutes in 412 career games (190 starts).

Miles, 27, missed all of 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons while recovering from microfracture surgery on his right knee, but recently attempted a comeback with the Boston Celtics. After signing a free-agent contract with Boston on Aug. 22, 2008, he appeared in six preseason contests, averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes. He was waived by the Celtics on Oct. 20.

The Bellville, Illinois native became the first player in league history drafted straight out of high school (East St. Louis High School) to earn All-Rookie honors when he averaged 9.4 points and 1.54 blocks per game for the Clippers in 2000-01. In his last NBA season in 2005-06, Miles posted career highs in points (14.0) and minutes played (32.2) per game with the Trail Blazers.

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Dec 12: Clippers 120, Blazers 112 2OT

The AP reports: Zach Randolph doesn’t harbor any bad feelings toward his former team. He just doesn’t want to lose to the Trail Blazers. Randolph scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 120-112 double-overtime victory over the Blazers on Friday night. Randolph, who was booed at times by the Portland crowd, also had 11 rebounds… The Clippers (5-17), with the second-worst record in the Western Conference, sure did. Baron Davis contributed 27 points and made a 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime. Brandon Roy scored a career-high 38 points, but the Blazers (15-10) dropped their third straight game. Rookie Greg Oden had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Greg Oden watches Gossip Girl

The AP reports: Turns out, Blazers center Greg Oden is a fan of the television series “Gossip Girl.” Who knew? The big man referenced the popular teen drama on the CW network in a blog post from the road on the Blazers’ recent eastern swing. In New York, he and Steve Blake went out to dinner, he wrote, adding: “and i got to see some of the places that were on this weeks episode of Gossip Girl.”

Dec 11: Jazz 97, Blazers 88

The AP reports: It didn’t matter much where Mehmet Okur was lining up for his shots in the first half. From 3-point range or under the basket, everything was falling for Okur in Utah’s 97-88 victory over Portland on Thursday night. Okur scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half and pulled down 10 rebounds. He was 9-for-14 from the floor and made two of the Jazz’s three 3-pointers… Paul Millsap had his 10th straight double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Deron Williams added 14 points and 11 assists to help the Jazz improve to 2-0 against Portland this season… Brandon Roy had 33 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 for Portland, tied with Utah for second place in the Northwest Division. Rudy Fernandez was the only other Blazer to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points…The Jazz also had 23 assists to Portland’s 13.

Dec 9: Magic 109, Blazers 108

The AP reports: Hedo Turkoglu banked in a 3-pointer from 25 feet with less than one second remaining, and the Orlando Magic rallied from a late eight-point deficit to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 109-108 on Tuesday night… Rashard Lewis hit six 3-pointers and led Orlando with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Turkoglu scored 24 points. Jameer Nelson hit four 3-pointers and added 21 points for the Magic. Portland, which fell to 15-8 and into a first-place tie with Denver in the Northwest Division, was led by Brandon Roy, who scored a season-high 30 points. Roy hit 10 of 20 shots and scored 20 points during the second half… Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 13 rebounds. The second pick of the 2006 draft, Aldridge hit 12 of 17 shots, and went 5-of-5 during the fourth quarter. Reserve Joel Przybilla added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Martell Webster out 4 weeks

Trail Blazers guard/forward Martell Webster will be sidelined for approximately four weeks after experiencing acute pain in his left foot Sunday at Toronto.

Webster experienced pain Dec. 7 against the Raptors, his first game back after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot on Oct. 9. An X-ray taken Monday revealed that the fracture has regressed from an X-ray taken late last month.

“The good news is that Martell is not experiencing pain at the fracture site,” said Kevin Pritchard, Trail Blazers General Manager. “He is, however, experiencing pain in his little toe joint (head of the fifth metatarsal bone). While it’s an unfortunate setback for Martell, we feel putting additional stress on the foot at this time is not conducive for complete healing.”

Webster will be placed in a walking boot for two weeks at which time he’ll be reevaluated and an updated treatment plan will be implemented.

A fourth-year Trail Blazer, Webster initially incurred the injury in an Oct. 7 preseason game vs. Sacramento.

Webster, 22, has career averages of 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists while averaging 37.2% (279-for-750) from 3-point range in 219 games (115 starts) with the Trail Blazers.

Dec 7: Blazers 98, Raptors 97

The AP reports: Steve Blake drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8 seconds left and the Portland Trail Blazers spoiled Toronto coach Jay Triano’s home debut with a 98-97 victory over the Raptors. LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points and Blake added 19 for Portland, which has won six of seven. Rudy Fernandez scored 16 points, Brandon Roy had 15 and Greg Oden had 10 points and 10 rebounds… Jermaine O’Neal scored a season-high 24 and blocked six shots and Bosh added 19 points, but it wasn’t enough to give Triano his first win as the Raptors lost their fourth straight game… Jose Calderon had 15 points and 13 assists, and reserves Joey Graham and Jason Kapono had 10 points each.

Dec 3: Blazers 98, Wizards 92

The AP reports: Brandon Roy took his time to get going Wednesday night, and then he took over, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the final 8 minutes to help the Portland Trail Blazers extend their winning streak to six games by coming back to beat the Washington Wizards 98-92. One of his most important baskets came on a drive to his left past defender DeShawn Stevenson to set up a lefty layup, giving Portland a four-point lead with 35 seconds to go… The well-balanced Blazers did put five players in double-figures: Roy, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Fernandez and Steve Blake. Oden, the rookie center who missed all of last season, finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double in the past 12 games.

Dec 2: Blazers 104, Knicks 97

The AP reports: Brandon Roy scored 23 points, and Portland dominated the fourth quarter to beat the tiring New York Knicks 104-97 Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory… The Knicks have been playing basically seven players because of trades, injuries and the Stephon Marbury situation… The Blazers shook off a dismal offensive night from rookie Greg Oden, who botched two dunks in the first five minutes and finished with two points, matching Kwame Brown for the lowest-scoring effort by a No. 1 overall pick in his Madison Square Garden debut in 40 years… LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points and Travis Outlaw 16 for the Blazers, who have won the first two games of their five-game Eastern Conference trip and are 6-0 against the East, their best start since winning their first 12 in 1990-91… David Lee finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Players of Week: Devin Harris, Brandon Roy

The New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 30.

Harris averaged a league-best 30.0 points on .535 shooting and added 6.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds as New Jersey went 3-1 on its West Coast trip. On Nov. 30, Harris led the Nets to their first win at Phoenix since 1993 by scoring a career-high 47 points to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. In that game, Harris set a franchise record for consecutive free-throws made (17-17). On Nov. 26, the 6-3 guard hit the game-winning shot in overtime as the Nets beat Sacramento 116-114.

Roy led the Trail Blazers to a 4-0 record, averaging 20.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds. On Nov. 28, Roy recorded his first double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 assists in a 101-86 win over New Orleans. Roy has scored 10 or more points 17 times this season, including 12 games with 20 or more points, and leads the team in scoring (20.9 ppg), assists (5.3 ppg) and minutes (36.3).

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Cleveland’s LeBron James, Dallas’ Jason Terry, Houston’s Yao Ming, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.