The AP reports: Greg Oden and Anthony Morrow have almost nothing in common, yet Portland’s earthshaking center and Golden State’s smooth shooting guard both took graceful steps forward in their young careers during the same ragtag game. Stephen Jackson scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Warriors overcame Oden’s 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 111-106 victory over the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night… Morrow followed up his 37-point performance three days earlier with 25 points for Golden State, including three free throws with 5.6 seconds to play, after sitting out most of the final seven minutes… Oden went 8-for-12 and played 30 minutes through foul trouble. Brandon Roy had 22 points and nine assists, and Rudy Fernandez added 13 points and seven rebounds before committing a personal foul and a technical foul leading to Morrow’s clinching free throws.
Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog
Trail Blazers blog – Portland Trail Blazers basketball blog
Nov 15: Blazers 88, Wolves 83
The AP reports: Watch out NBA, Greg Oden is starting to clear the cobwebs from two injuries, giving Brandon Roy a monster presence down low for the young Portland Trail Blazers. Playing the first back-to-back of his career, the former No. 1 draft pick followed his first double-double with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes. Roy then closed things out in the Blazers’ 88-83 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night… Roy, who was originally chosen by the Timberwolves but traded for Randy Foye on draft night, scored 24 points for the Blazers, including a driving layup and a fast-break dunk in the closing minute that gave them the lead for good… Al Jefferson had 26 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves (1-7), who have lost seven in a row since an opening night victory over Sacramento.
Nov 14: Hornets 87, Blazers 82
The AP reports: David West scored 18 points and James Posey hit two 3-pointers—New Orleans’ only baskets in the last 8:30—to help the Hornets outlast the Blazers 87-82… Portland’s only field goals in the last 6:59 came on Brandon Roy’s two 3-pointers in the final minute. Roy had a chance to tie it in the last 10 seconds, but his wild turnaround 3-pointer came nowhere close. New Orleans guard Devin Brown sealed the win two free throws with 7.3 seconds left… Chris Paul added 17 points, nine assists and four steals to help the Hornets improve to 5-4. Portland lost for the first time in five games… Injury-plagued Portland center Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, had career bests with 11 points and 11 rebounds in his second game back from a sprained foot he sustained in the season opener after missing all of his rookie season following microfracture knee surgery… LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 points for the Trail Blazers.
Nov 12: Blazers 104, Heat 96
The AP reports: Rudy Fernandez scored 25 points, including a clutch spinning jumper as the shot clock expired with 44.9 seconds left, and the Blazers celebrated Oden’s comeback from a sprained right foot with a 104-96 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Brandon Roy scored 22 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 14 for the Trail Blazers. Oden, the 2007 No. 1 overall pick who missed all of last season and hadn’t played since getting hurt in this season’s opener, finished with three points and two rebounds in 16 minutes… Michael Beasley and Daequan Cook each scored 11 points for Miami, while Chris Quinn scored 10 and Udonis Haslem finished with 11 rebounds. Miami had 19 turnovers that Portland turned into 26 points.
Greg Oden set to return
The Miami Herald (Michael Wallace) reports: The Miami Heat spent Wednesday’s shootaround preparing for Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden to make his return from a foot injury that has kept him out since the season opener. Oden doesn’t plan to disappoint Miami (4-3) when the Blazers (4-3) arrive for Wednesday night’s game at AmericanAirlines Arena. ”I’m ready. I’m excited,” Oden said after Portland’s shootaround Wednesday. “I’ll hopefully play the full game. It was my decision and it depends on how I feel. And I feel good.” Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, hasn’t played since he sustained a right mid-foot sprain after playing just 13 minutes in the Blazers’ Oct. 28 loss to the Lakers. He was initially expected to miss as much as a month. It has been another disappointing start to the season for Oden, who missed all of last season after knee surgery.
Words from Mom help Travis Outlaw
The Oregonian (Jason Quick) reports: Today, Travis Outlaw feels like he is on top of the world after his 20 points and five rebounds were the catalysts in the Blazers’ first road win of the season — 106-99 over Orlando. What changed? Turns out, a phone conversation with Mom got Outlaw on track. Last Thursday, Outlaw was driving to the Rose Garden for the Blazers’ game against Houston when he remembered that his mother, Markeeta Outlaw, had wanted him to call. Back home in Starkville, Miss., Markeeta hadn’t liked what she had seen from her middle child during the Blazers’ opening stretch of the season. So when Travis called, she told him so. “She said, ‘You don’t seem like yourself out there. You don’t seem like you are having fun,'” Outlaw recalled… “She asked why I wasn’t doing more out there?” Outlaw said. “She told me, ‘Don’t just sit there in the corner — cut to the basket, go get rebounds. You need to have fun.'”
Nov 10: Blazers 106, Magic 99
The AP reports: Brandon Roy scored 27 points to lead the Blazers. Dwight Howard, battling a chest cold, had 29 points and a season-high 19 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu added 35 points for the Magic, who finished their homestand 4-1. Point guard Steve Blake and reserve Travis Outlaw had 20 apiece as Portland’s bench outscored Orlando’s 40-12… Trailing 73-72 entering the final period, Portland scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, fueled by two 3-pointers by Rudy Fernandez. He finished with 16 points… The Magic shot only 29.2 percent from behind the arc, which Van Gundy attributed to poor ball movement… Travis Outlaw, who played 41 minutes, more than any Blazers’ starter, made 3-of-5 3-pointers.
InsideHoops.com Notes: Keith Bogans, who had 12 points, was the only Magic bench player to score.
Nov 8: Blazers 97, Wolves 93
The AP reports: LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Brandon Roy added 24 points and nine assists and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-93 on Saturday night to improve to 3-0 at home. Al Jefferson finished with 27 points after starting off 3-for-10 from the field for Minnesota in its fifth straight loss. Mike Miller had 14 points and six assists… Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez each had 11 points for Portland. Randy Foye had 11 for Minnesota, and Craig Smith added 10.
Nov 6: Blazers 101, Rockets 99 OT
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.
Greg Oden still hurting
So far, Greg Oden’s NBA career has consisted of weight-gain and injuries. He’ll be OK eventually. And this will be ancient history someday. Hopefully. But for now, things are questionable.
The Oregonian (Jason Quick) reports: It’s not exactly encouraging news on the Greg Oden injury front. As of Wednesday night, Oden was definitely being ruled out for tonight’s game against Houston, Saturday’s game against Minnesota, and now his status for the team’s upcoming trip east is tenuous at best because of his sprained right foot. “He’s not pain free,” coach Nate McMillan said. “He still feels something.” Today marks Day 9 since Oden suffered the injury on opening night against the Lakers. The team figured his rehab would take 2-to-4 weeks, and a popular prognosis being sold by some people was that Oden’s recovery would be closer to the two weeks than the four.