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.
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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.
Nov 5: Jazz 103, Blazers 96
The AP reports: Brevin Knight, who joined the Jazz in the offseason, played the final 15 minutes and engineered a comeback that pushed Utah past the Portland Trail Blazers 103-96 on Wednesday night… Mehmut Okur scored 22 points and Carlos Boozer added 20—including four in the final 30 seconds—for the Jazz… Brandon Roy, who had 18 points for Portland, sliced Utah’s lead to one at 97-96 on a drive down the lane in the final minute. Andrei Kirilenko found Boozer for a layup with 29.2 seconds left to reclaim the three-point advantage… LaMarcus Aldridge also had 18 points for Portland.
Thunder sign Steven Hill
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has signed center Steven Hill.
Hill (7-0, 245) saw action in three preseason games with the Portland Trailblazers, recording averages of 1.0 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.67 blocks and 9.0 minutes.
The Missouri native played four seasons at the University of Arkansas where he averaged 4.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.11 blocks as a senior. Hill was named Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a junior.
The Thunder roster now stands at 15.
Nov 1: Suns 107, Blazers 96
The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 16 of his 23 points in the decisive third quarter and Phoenix beat the Trail Blazers 107-96 Saturday night to give Terry Porter his first home victory as Suns coach… Steve Nash had 20 points, including a 3-pointer that put Phoenix ahead 101-90 with 1:48 left. Matt Barnes scored 21, Shaquille O’Neal 16 and Raja Bell 13 for the Suns, who shot 55 percent. Nash also had seven assists. Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez scored 20 apiece for Portland. Roy, hounded by Bell much of the night, was 7-of-18 shooting. LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 for the Trail Blazers, coming off a 100-99 home victory over San Antonio on Friday night.