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Aldridge, Blazers kick off road trip vs. Raptors

Feb 11, 2011 - 4:16 PM (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge has been carrying the load for the Portland Trail Blazers in Brandon Roy's absence due to knee problems and will try to top his last performance tonight against the Toronto Raptors.

Aldridge will lead the Blazers in the opener of a three-game trek against Toronto, Detroit and Minnesota, and they are 10-17 away from the Rose City this season. Portland is also in the midst of playing six of seven games as the visitor.

The Blazers got a career-high 42 points on 15-of-23 shooting and eight rebounds from Aldridge in Monday's 109-103 win over the Chicago Bulls at the Rose Garden. Aldridge became the first Blazer since Clyde Drexler in 1989 to record back-to-back 40-point efforts at home. Aldridge had 40 points Feb. 1 in a win versus Sacramento.

"He (Aldridge) beat us down the floor, he posted us up, he got us in pick-and- rolls, he put it on the floor," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Aldridge.

Andre Miller posted 27 points, 11 assists and six rebounds, while Rudy Fernandez had 18 points off the bench for Portland, which has won two straight and eight of its last 12 contests. In 16 victories since Roy last played (Dec. 15 at Dallas), Aldridge is recording 28.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Meanwhile, the struggling Raptors will resume a four-game homestand Friday and opened the residency with Wednesday's 111-100 loss versus red-hot San Antonio. The Spurs improved to an NBA-best 44-8 on the season.

Andrea Bargnani scored a game-high 29 points, DeMar DeRozan chipped in 25 and Leandro Barbosa netted 20 points in a reserve role for Toronto, which has lost 15 of its last 16 games and is 9-16 at Air Canada Centre.

"We started missing our shots," Toronto guard Jose Calderon said of the team's fourth quarter struggles. "When you're playing the best team in the NBA, if you make mistakes, they will take advantage of it and they will beat you. When you're playing a tough team you have to do it for the full 48 minutes."

Amir Johnson added 12 points and 13 rebounds in defeat. The Raptors are in the midst playing eight of nine games as the host. Bargnani is averaging 21.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and shooting .415 from the field in his the last five games. In that same span, DeRozan is posting 17.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting .526.

Portland has won five straight and 13 of 18 games against Toronto, including a 97-84 triumph on Nov. 6 in the Pacific Northwest. Roy led a balanced scoring attack with 26 points in that one for the Blazers.