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Roy carries Blazers past lowly Timberwolves

Jan 3, 2008 - 5:35 AM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Brandon Roy scored 24 points as the Portland Trail Blazers overcame a poor shooting performance to post a 90-79 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

James Jones scored 18 points off the bench and LaMarcus Aldridge collected 17 and 11 rebounds for Portland, which shot just 39 percent (30-of-77) but bounced back after having its 13-game winning streak snapped on Monday.

"We wanted to win this game to say to everybody, 'Hey, we lost the streak, but we're still a good team and there's still a lot to play for,'" Roy said.

The Blazers opened the game in the second quarter on the shoulders of Jones, who netted 10 points during an aggressive 16-7 surge to begin the period and make it 39-25 at the 8:14 mark.

"James gave a big boost off the bench and LaMarcus is starting to get his flow back," Roy said. "It was a good win. We'll take it."

A breakaway dunk from rookie swingman Corey Brewer helped Minnesota cut its deficit to 60-54 with 4:49 left in the third. But Portland pulled away for good with a 15-6 burst to close out the quarter and forge a 75-62 edge heading into the decisive period.

"As bad as we played, we still had a chance to win the game," Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson said. "We had plenty of opportunities to make a run, especially in the last four minutes. But we didn't finish on the fast breaks. I think the fast breaks cost us the game."

"No road win is a given and any time you can get one in this league, you take it," Portland guard Jarrett Jack said. "I don't think you can look at any team's record or what they have done in the past. You have to respect every team you face and go into every game with the same mind set."

Jefferson had 29 points and 16 boards and Ryan Gomes chipped in 10 and 10 for the Timberwolves, who shot 35 percent (28-of-30) en route to their sixth consecutive setback.