AP News, December 20th, 2007
Brandon Roy had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers won their ninth straight game, beating the Toronto Raptors 101-96 on Wednesday night.
The Blazers, 11-3 at home and 14-12 overall, have won nine straight games for the first time since they won 12 in a row during the 2001-02 season.
After trailing the entire second half, the Blazers evened it at 87 on Travis Outlaw's free throws with 6:08 to go. Roy followed up with a layup to put Portland ahead.
The Blazers held on to the slim lead, but Toronto appeared to gain momentum when Jose Calderon's layup narrowed it to 97-93 with 1:47 left.
The Blazers deliberately slowed the pace with the lead, and went up 99-94 on James Jones' free throws when he was fouled by Jason Kapono with 11.7 seconds left.
Chris Bosh's dunk got Toronto closer, but Jones was again fouled and made both of his shots for the final margin with 8.4 seconds to go.
LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers' leading scorer and rebounder, returned after missing the last five games because of a heel injury.
Aldridge had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Martell Webster also scored 15 points. Portland outscored Toronto 25-13 in the third quarter.
Calderon had 18 points and nine assists for the Raptors, while Chris Bosh added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Blazers beat visiting New Orleans 88-76 on Monday. The Raptors were coming off an 80-77 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, the first of a seven-game road trip.
The Raptors, winners of five of their previous six games, threatened several times in the first half to pull away, but couldn't extend the lead to more than double digits. The main obstacle was Roy, who was 6-for-7 from the field for 16 first-half points.
Anthony Parker's 3-pointer with 3:26 to go before the break put Toronto ahead 50-42, but Aldridge's jumper and Roy's 3-pointer narrowed it again for the Blazers.
Toronto stayed in front to lead 56-51 at the half.
The Blazers were able to keep it close through the third quarter, and came within 76-74 on Webster's slam dunk. But then Toronto began to pull away — Parker hit a 3-pointer before Kris Humphries added a hook shot and a layup to make it 83-76.
Roy was battling stomach flu and didn't practice on Tuesday. His play over the past two weeks has meant the difference for the Blazers, and earned him Western Conference player of the week for the second straight week. Over those two weeks, he averaged 24.1 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds.
Last season's NBA Rookie of the Year is the first Trail Blazer to win the award in consecutive weeks since Clyde Drexler in 1987-88.
Notes:@ Toronto's T.J. Ford missed his fifth straight game because of a head injury sustained Dec. 11 against Atlanta. ... Several members of the Oregon State Beavers football team attended the game. The Beavers are preparing to play Maryland in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 28. ... Also at the game was Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who is from Madras, Ore., and attended Oregon State.
(This version corrects the spelling of Jason Kapono's name.)
