MINNEAPOLIS — 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.
“The guys were like, ‘You killed in college, you can do it here,”’ said Oden, who missed all of last season with a knee injury and six games this one with a sprained foot. “I knew if I kept working it would come.”
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.
But it was Oden’s performance on the heels of an 11-point, 11-rebound game against New Orleans that had Roy excited for this team’s immediate future.
“That was just a taste of it,” Roy said. “He didn’t give you the whole meal, it was just a taste of what he’s going to do.”
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.
It was a familiar formula for the Wolves. They led by 12 points with 5½ minutes to play in the third quarter, but let a double-digit lead slip away for the fourth time this season. Five of their last six losses have been by five points or less.
“It’s like groundhog day,” coach Randy Wittman said.
Jefferson made eight of his first nine shots, having little trouble shooting under, over or around Portland’s skyline of a front — with the 7-foot-1 Joel Przybilla, the 7-foot Oden and 6-11 LaMarcus Aldridge all taking a crack at him.
His reverse layup gave the Wolves a 10-point lead less than 2 minutes into the second half, but it was mostly downhill from there.
Sergio Rodriguez’s 3-pointer to open the fourth cut the lead to 71-68, and Oden ripped the ball from Jefferson on the low block to start a break finished by a jumper from Steve Blake to tie it at 77 with 3:52 to play.
Oden then threw down a dunk in transition to give Portland an 81-79 lead with 2:58 to go, its first lead since the opening of the second quarter.
“He seems to be getting his confidence and getting his feel for playing with our guys,” coach Nate McMillan said. “And our guys are getting used to playing with him.”
This one will sting just a little bit more for the Wolves.
The Foye-Roy trade has been heavily scrutinized in the Twin Cities, largely because Roy has emerged as a bona fide star and one of the rising clutch players in the game.
Foye, meanwhile, was benched for Sebastian Telfair four games ago and still hasn’t fulfilled the promise he had coming out of Villanova.
Foye finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three turnovers, including the crucial one with his team down 84-83 to Roy turned into a breakaway dunk.
Cavaliers 105, Jazz 93
CLEVELAND — LeBron James scored 38 points, leading a second-half rally that gave Cleveland its seventh straight victory. Mo Williams added 20 points for the Cavaliers, including a 3-pointer and a layup midway through the fourth quarter that pushed Cleveland’s lead to 95-84, its biggest since the first quarter.
Rockets 91, Hornets 82
HOUSTON — Yao Ming scored 21 points, Tracy McGrady added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Houston bottled up Chris Paul in a victory over New Orleans. Paul, who came in averaging 22 points, went 2-for-10 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line to score 12. He had 12 assists, but the Hornets shot 41 percent (31-for-76) and were outrebounded 41-35.
Celtics 102, Bucks 97 (OT)
MILWAUKEE — Paul Pierce scored 28 points, Ray Allen added 27 and the pair accounted for all nine points in overtime, lifting Boston over Milwaukee. Allen and Pierce were without the final member of the Big Three, Kevin Garnett, down the stretch after he fouled out midway through overtime, but still managed to give the Celtics their sixth straight win over Milwaukee.
Nets 119, Hawks 107
ATLANTA — Devin Harris scored 33 points, Vince Carter had 29 and New Jersey beat Atlanta to complete a sweep of the two-day, home-and-home series. The Nets lost three straight while Harris was out with a sprained left ankle. He returned Friday night to score 30 points in a 115-108 victory over the Hawks at New Jersey.
Warriors 121, Clippers 103
LOS ANGELES — Undrafted rookie Anthony Morrow had 37 points and 10 rebounds in his first NBA start, and Golden State beat Los Angeles in the first meeting between Baron Davis and Corey Maggette since they switched teams as free agents this summer. Morrow, who averaged 7.7 points as a reserve in his other three games this season, played 42 minutes and was 15-for-20 from the field. His total was the highest this season by a rookie, topping O.J. Mayo’s 33.
Bulls 104, Pacers 91
CHICAGO — Derrick Rose scored 23 points and Chicago used a fourth-quarter surge to beat Indiana. Rose scored 12 points in the third quarter, helping the Bulls build an eight-point lead, then used his quickness to help Chicago complete the victory in the fourth.
76ers 110, Thunder 85
PHILADELPHIA — Thaddeus Young scored 23 points, Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala added 15 apiece, and Philadelphia cruised past Oklahoma City. Samuel Dalembert contributed 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Sixers, who won their third straight game to even their record at 5-5.
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