Portland beats Orlando 106-99
Roy scores 27, Trail Blazers notch first road win of 2008 campaign
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:58 AM PST
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| Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy (right) puts up a shot over Orlando Magic guard Keith Bogans during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Orlando, Fla. Monday. Roy scored 27 points to lead Portland to a 106-99 win. |
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Portland has faced the NBA’s best and broken even.
The Trail Blazers, who played six of their first seven games against teams that had won at least 52 games last season, beat Orlando 106-99 on Monday night for their third-straight win and first on the road.
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.
Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw had 20 apiece as Portland’s bench outscored Orlando’s 40-12.
Portland had opened with the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Jazz and Rockets, who had all won at least 54 games last season. Including the 52-win Magic, the Blazers are 3-3 in those games.
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 Trail Blazers held a 91-79 lead with 3:55 left before Turkoglu did his best to keep Orlando close, scoring 11 of their next 13 points.
His 3-pointer cut it to 98-92 with 50 seconds left, but the Blazers were 8-for-10 from the foul line after that to seal the victory.
‘‘This has been part of the reason we’ve lost our first couple games, not being able to finish games off,’’ said Blazers coach Nate McMillan. ‘‘Not only did I talk about, but they talked about winning the third and fourth quarter and getting stronger down the stretch.’’
Orlando didn’t have a field goal in an 11-minute, 3-second stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters, during which their 72-68 lead became a 87-75 deficit.
