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Roy, Blazers add to Lakers' woes in Portland

Apr 9, 2008 - 6:17 AM PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Portland Trail Blazers just seem to have the Los Angeles Lakers' number at the Rose Garden.

Brandon Roy had 23 points and 12 assists and Channing Frye had season highs with 22 and 11 rebounds as the Blazers hung on for a 112-103 victory over the Lakers on Tuesday.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and 16 rebounds for Portland, which has beaten Los Angeles six straight times at home. The win also snapped the Blazers' five-game losing streak.

"The reason we play so well against the Lakers here is hard to explain," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "What I think, though, is that everybody the players, coaching staff and the fans get fired up when we play L.A. But tonight is wasn't just that. It was that we just played good basketball."

Portland held a 58-47 lead at the break and led by as many as 16 points midway through the third quarter before Kobe Bryant went on a personal 10-0 run to cut the Lakers' deficit to 77-71 with 2:25 left in the period.

But the Blazers responded with a 12-0 burst - capped by Aldridge's jumper to take their largest lead at 89-71 late in the third quarter. Portland held a 16-point bulge entering the fourth.

"That was a big push for us," said Aldridge, whose 16 boards are a season high. "They, well Kobe, cut it down to six and they were coming on. We were able to buckle down and remember what got us to that point. After that, we just kept playing loose and with confidence."

The Lakers closed within 95-87 on Lamar Odom's dunk with 6:50 to play and later trimmed the margin to 104-99 on Vladimir Radmanovic's 3-pointer with 1:36 remaining.

Bryant's layup cut the deficit to three, but Roy answered with a three-point play on a driving layup to give Portland a 107-101 advantage with 44 seconds remaining, and Los Angeles never got it down to a one-possession game again.

"They were full-court pressing so I was thinking if I can get passed Kobe Bryant and attack Gasol, something might happen," Roy said. "I wasn't sure if Gasol would foul me but I wanted to get to the basket. It was pretty big because we needed a score."

"I feel like I didn't even touch him," Gasol said. "I don't know what angle the referee had, but it's something that is out of my control and so I move on."

Portland shot 51 percent (41-of-81) from the floor, including 10-of-22 from the arc and had six players in double figures in scoring for the contest.

With the loss, Los Angeles (53-25) remained 1 1/2 games behind New Orleans (54-23) for first place in the Western Conference. The Hornets had lost earlier Tuesday to Utah.

"Coach told us that we haven't had a six-game losing streak all season," Roy said. "We took some pride in that and we tried to go out there and play with attitude. Try and mess up some things in the top of the (Western Conference)."

The Blazers led by four points at the end of the first quarter, and used an 11-2 run late in the second to take a 52-42 lead with 1:37 remaining before halftime.

Roy's layup with eight seconds to play before the break gave Portland a 58-47 bulge at the intermission.

Bryant finished with 34 points to lead the Lakers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

"We had some offensive breakdowns," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "There were times where we shouldn't have had to take tough shots, but our problem was mostly defense. The simple fact is we just didn't play with enough energy."