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Roy leads Blazers over Timberwolves

Mar 8, 2009 - 7:07 AM PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Brandon Roy scored 31 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 95-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points despite shooting just 2-of-14 for the Blazers, who improved their home record to 26-5 - the second-best mark in the Western Conference.

Ryan Gomes scored 28 points and Randy Foye added 23 off the bench for the Timberwolves, who have dropped nine straight.

"We were trying to go for a three so, we had a good look," Minnesota coach Kevin McHale said. "I thought it had a good chance."

The Blazers set a season high with 26 lead changes in the contest, the last coming when Roy knocked down a jumper with 8:37 left in the game to put his team up, 79-77.

"I thought we came in and just played," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "With the importance of this game, we have to play much better than that. We did enough to win this game. We'll use it for upcoming games."

Roy added a pair of free throws and a 12-foot jumper as Portland began to pull away with an 11-2 run.

Minnesota responded with a 9-2 run, capped by Gomes' leaner in the lane, and had a chance to take the lead but Foye missed a jumper and the Blazers grabbed the rebound. Steve Blake tried a 3-pointer in transition and knocked it off the back rim, but Travis Outlaw grabbed the rebound and in one motion slammed it home to push the lead back to 92-88.

"I was going for hustle plays and just trying to play strong defense," Outlaw said.

Gomes hit a 3-pointer with 10.6 seconds left to pull the Timberwolves within 94-93, but Roy split a pair of free throws and Foye missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"Of course you're nervous. It went up and you've just got to hope he misses it," Roy said. "As it got close to the rim, I could tell it was off a bit, so I was just glad we came out with the win."

The Timberwolves have three losing streaks this season of at least eight games. They fell to 1-11 since Al Jefferson was lost for the season due to a torn ACL.