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Roy helps Portland outlast Utah

Feb 21, 2007 - 7:31 AM PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Brandon Roy got the second half of his first season off to an impressive start.

Roy scored 27 points and Zach Randolph had a double-double to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 103-100 victory over the Utah Jazz.

One of the favorites for the Rookie of the Yeat award, Roy scored 20 of his points in the second half. He had five in a 10-2 run to start the second half that gave the Blazers a 62-54 lead.

"Well, we had a tough time controlling Roy," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He was terrific. He just made the game so easy and we had a difficult time with him. It was a tough matchup."

Portland never trailed again, although they did make it interesting. A 3-pointer by Roy gave the Blazers a 91-79 lead with 6:01 to play but the Jazz would not go away.

"I just wanted to be aggressive and attack the rim," Roy said. "We just wanted to do what we had to to get this win. We know that we just need wins right now so that's what we are trying to do collectively."

All-Star Mehmet Okur buried a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left to make it 101-100. Randolph made a pair of free throws to push the lead to 103-100.

Okur missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key but the ball went out of bounds and the Jazz got another chance. Okur took another 3-pointer that came up short at the buzzer.

"Our finish was pretty difficult but I think you have to give them credit," Sloan said. "They made it difficult for us and we had to take tough shots."

"The play was set up for me to take the shot but the play switched because of the defense," Okur said. "My teammates still did a great job of trying to get me open but I wasn't able to knock this one down. Sometimes the ball lands for you and sometimes not. I tried to make the last one but just missed it."

Okur had 25 points, Derek Fisher had 20 and 10 assists and Paul Millsap had 18 points for the Jazz.

Utah had won six straight and were getting along just fine without forward Carlos Boozer. The Jazz were 6-1 since the All-Star forward went down with a hairline fracture of his left leg. But Utah was also without guard Deron Williams, who strained his groin in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge game during All-Star weekend and did not dress against Portland.

"I can't worry about that. It's not as much fun but that's part of the business and you got to play around that," Sloan said. "Other teams do it and we are no different than any other team. We still had a chance to win the ballgame if we could stop them and we couldn't make stops. Roy just got where he wanted to go and made plays."

Randolph finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds and Ime Udoka added 15 points for Portland, which snapped a five-game losing streak to Utah.