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Clippers-Trail Blazers Preview

Feb 16, 2010 - 8:50 PM Los Angeles (21-31) at Portland (31-24), 10:00 p.m. EDT

Brandon Roy has been sidelined for nearly four weeks, but it appears he is very close to returning. He'll have a new teammate on the floor when he does come back.

Hours after the Portland Trail Blazers acquired Marcus Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers, the teams square off Tuesday night at the Rose Garden.

The Trail Blazers acquired the veteran big man from the Clippers early Tuesday for guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw. It's uncertain if any of those players will be in uniform for their new teams Tuesday.

Camby, a two-time member of the NBA's all-defensive team, provides a boost to a Portland frontcourt missing injured big men Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla and Nicolas Batum.

"We are very excited to bring an experienced big man of Marcus' caliber to the team and we feel he'll help us a great deal down the stretch run," general manager Kevin Pritchard said. "He's a fierce competitor and has been one of the league's best defensive players for quite some time."

Roy, the Blazers' leading scorer at 23.1 points per game, has missed the last 12 games since re-injuring his hamstring in a 98-90 victory at Philadelphia on Jan. 20. He practiced Monday and said he's hoping to return in time for Friday's game against Boston.

While the Blazers (31-24) are just 5-7 since Roy was injured, they finished the first half of the season on a positive note Wednesday, winning 108-101 at Phoenix. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points and Blake had season highs of 20 points and 12 assists as he started for the first time since Jan. 25.

Portland apparently felt Blake was expendable because of the development of second-year guard Jerryd Bayless and the presence of veteran Andre Miller. Outlaw has been one of the Blazers' key reserves, but he's been out since November due to a broken foot.

Portland now tries to avoid losing three straight at the Rose Garden for the first time since March 29-April 6, 2008.

The Clippers, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from their fourth consecutive loss, 132-102 at Golden State on Wednesday.

It was their 14th loss in 16 road games and marked the most points Los Angeles (21-31) had allowed since a 140-135 overtime victory at New York on March 25.

"We have to find out what caused this tonight (and) if I have to adjust playing time to figure it out, then that's what I have to do," coach Kim Hughes said after the Clippers' eighth loss in nine games. "We didn't play any defense tonight."

Hughes, 0-3 since general manager Mike Dunleavy stepped down as coach, may need a big effort from center Chris Kaman if the Clippers are going to avoid their first five-game losing streak since a six-game skid from March 27-April 7.

Kaman, averaging a career-high 20.0 points and 8.9 rebounds, made his first All-Star game appearance Sunday, scoring four points with three rebounds. He was named to the West team as an injury replacement for Roy.

Kaman will likely get his first extended look at Aldridge this season. Aldridge sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of a 103-99 victory over the visiting Clippers on Dec. 30 and missed the next two games, including a 105-95 loss in Los Angeles five days later.