• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Roy, Blazers stay perfect at home

Nov 29, 2008 - 6:40 AM By James Reddick PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Brandon Roy collected 25 points, 10 assists and six rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers remained perfect at home with a 101-86 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday.

LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers, who shot 44 percent (37-of-69) en route to moving to 7-0 at the Rose Garden.

"We're trying to bring 'Rip City' back to Portland," Aldridge said. "I think we're doing a pretty good job."

"It's our home court," Roy said. "We have to win every game here. The Western Conference is tough. We have to take the next five games on the road and get some wins."

Trailing, 69-65, with 3:47 left in the third, Portland went on a 20-2 running bridging the third and fourth quarters.

"I think we turned it around in the third quarter because they had a lot of open looks they didn't knock down, but we made our shots," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "Our defense was sound most of the night. We did a different defense on Chris (Paul). We committed three guys to put pressure on their pick-and-roll. Then we mixed that up with two, using our center and a guard."

The Hornets pulled within 85-74 on Sean Marks' 3-pointer with 7:30 left in the game, but the Blazers refused to fold, getting six points from Roy down the stretch to help them pull away.

"He was so efficient tonight," Portland head coach Nate McMillan said of Roy. "Brandon wants the ball down the stretch."

After appearing to injure his ankle at the end of the third quarter, Rudy Fernandez hit a three with 10:30 remaining to give the Blazers an 82-69 lead.

Steve Blake's 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining pushed the Blazers lead to 101-84.

After scoring a whopping 37 points in the first quarter against Miami on Wednesday night, the Blazers again opened strongly, scoring 31 points in the period.

Peja Stojakovic led the Hornets in scoring with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, but had just 12 points after the first quarter.

New Orleans star guard Chris Paul had 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, but also had five turnovers.

"They put it in another gear and we didn't match it," Paul said. "We hung in there for three quarters and then we laid down.

"We are nowhere near where we need to be. We have a lot of work to do, mentally, physically ... as a team. It's a long season but the only way that we're going to get in the playoffs is if we start winning games."

After shooting 46 percent in the first half, the Hornets' offense sputtered the rest of the way. They scored only 38 points in the second half.

"We just have to understand that a team that's going to compete for a championship ... can't come in here with these types of efforts," New Orleans head coach Byron Scott said.

Rookie Greg Oden had only one point in 23 minutes for the Blazers, though he did have eight rebounds.