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Absence of Oden not limiting Trail Blazers

Nov 1, 2008 - 10:44 AM Portland (1-1) at Phoenix (1-1) 10:00 p.m. EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- No Greg Oden is no problem for the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers go for their second straight win without Oden on Saturday when they visit the Phoenix Suns.

The first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Oden missed all of last season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. He played only 13 minutes in his debut following a mid-lateral right foot sprain suffered when he landed awkwardly while battling for a rebound in the first quarter of Tuesday's season-opening 96-76 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Oden is expected to miss two to four weeks, and, despite his absence, Portland claimed its first win of the season on Friday, outlasting the San Antonio Spurs, 100-99.

Brandon Roy, who led the Blazers in scoring last season, had 26 points and seven assists while LaMarcus Aldridge helped to compensate for the lack of Oden's physical presence, scoring 23 points, including a jumper with 34.5 seconds left that proved to be the winning points.

The Suns got off to a great start under new coach Terry Porter, earning a 103-98 win against the Spurs during the season opener on Wednesday. Phoenix failed to build on that momentum, however, dropping a 108-95 decision to the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday.