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Camby scores 30, Blazers beat Thunder 103-95

Apr 13, 2010 - 6:24 AM By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer

PORTLAND, Ore.(AP) -- The chant in the waning seconds of Portland's 103-95 victory over Oklahoma City started among just a few fans Monday night, then quickly grew to shake the Rose Garden: "Mar-cus Cam-by! Mar-cus Cam-by!"

The 13-year veteran, acquired by the Trail Blazers in a trade just after the All-Star game, earned the thunderous chants after he scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Portland avoid the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

"Wow," Camby said. "I haven't heard anything like that since I was in the Garden. It means a lot."

Camby was referring to Madison Square Garden, where he spent four seasons with the Knicks, first hearing the chants when New York became the first No. 8 seed to make it to the NBA finals in 1998-99.

He certainly won over any lingering Trail Blazers doubters against the Thunder, with more points than he'd had since scoring 33 back in 2005 with Denver.

Camby's boost came after Blazers guard Brandon Roy announced he had a torn meniscus in his right knee. The injury will keep the three-time All-Star out of Portland's regular-season finale against Golden State, and his status for the playoffs is uncertain.

The loss locked the Thunder into the eighth spot in the Western Conference, meaning they'll face the Lakers in the first round. Oklahoma City finishes up at home Wednesday against Memphis.

"Of course we want to win every game, but that's impossible. But we want to finish this season off strong. We still have one game to play and we will take this opportunity to play our hardest," said Kevin Durant, who had 30 points. "No one expected us to be here. We would have liked to be (seeded) higher. But we have to keep fighting and get ready for the playoffs, whoever we play."

If the Blazers win their final game, they are assured the No. 6 seed in the West. If San Antonio wins its finale and Portland loses, the Spurs get the sixth seed.

The Spurs beat the Timberwolves 133-111 earlier on Monday night.

The victory was Portland's 50th of the season, giving the team its first back-to-back 50-win seasons since 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Portland beat the Lakers 91-88 in Los Angeles on Sunday, but Roy went down in the first quarter.

His injury is the latest to befall the seemingly jinxed Blazers, who lost both Greg Oden and fellow center Joel Przybilla to season-ending knee injuries. A total of 13 Blazers have missed a combined 307 games this season.

Roy, who leads the Blazers with an average of 21.5 points per game, said he wants to try and play in the playoffs. He will be re-evaluated on Friday.

"It's been a bad year for injuries with our group," coach Nate McMillan said. "It's just something we've had to deal with all year long. It seemed like every few hours it got worse. So we know what the situation is. We'll rest him this week and see if he can go, see if he can do something."

Rudy Fernandez started in Roy's place and had nine points.

The Blazers jumped out to a 15-8 lead, but the Thunder went on a 10-0 run to close the first quarter - capped by Durant's 3-pointer - to go up 28-22.

James Harden's fast-break slam made it 34-24 for Oklahoma City. Durant gave the Thunder their biggest lead of the first half at 48-36 with a fast-break layup.

Durant had 21 points at halftime, with the Thunder leading 51-43.

Andre Miller's hook put the Blazers ahead 53-51 and it was close the rest of the third quarter. Jerryd Bayless' layup put Portland up 73-71 to start the fourth.

Harden's 3-pointer gave the Thunder an 84-79 lead in the fourth, but Portland pulled back in front, 85-84, with Camby's two-handed dunk with 6:50 left.

Durant's running jumper evened it at 88 before Nicolas Batum made one of two free throws for a one-point lead.

LaMarcus Aldridge's hook shot made it 91-88 before Camby hit a pair of free throws to put Portland ahead 93-88 with 4:03 to go. Batum's dunk and Miller's layup extended the lead to 97-88.

Nick Collison made a pair of free throws with 1:07 left to narrow it to 101-95, but that was as close as the Thunder got.

The last time the teams met, on Feb. 9 at the Rose Garden, Roy was also absent and the Thunder won 89-77 with the help of Durant's 33 points and 11 rebounds.

The Blazers selected Oden over Durant as the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft.

NOTES: McMillan has been called for technicals in three straight games. ... As usual when the Thunder visit, there were quite a few Sonics jerseys among fans at the Rose Garden. ... It was Durant's 46th game this season with 30 or more points.