Roy leads Blazers over Jazz

Apr 5, 2007, 5:00 GMT

Portland, OR - Brandon Roy scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 94-89 victory over the Utah Jazz at the Rose Garden.

Travis Outlaw added 22 points for Portland, which halted a four-game skid. Jarrett Jack pitched in 14 points for the Trail Blazers, who got 11 points from Fred Jones.

Portland played without rookie LaMarcus Aldridge, who will be sidelined indefinitely because of a rapid heartbeat and dizziness. Largely because of the situation with Aldridge, the Blazers have signed center Luke Schencher for the rest of the season.

'We beat a very good team tonight,' Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. 'I've tried to get across to this team that if you play hard and play together you'll have a chance to win games. I thought the fact that we were physical, the way Utah is physical, would force the officials to make some calls in our favor. I think that worked in the end to benefit Brandon.'

Carlos Boozer scored 21 points and tied his career-high with 21 rebounds for Utah, which had won four of its last five games. Deron Williams had 14 points and 13 assists for the Jazz, which also got double-digit scoring contributions from Gordan Giricek (13), Matt Harpring (12) and Mehmet Okur (11).

'They did a great job of controlling the game with their pick and rolls,' Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. 'Early on Outlaw got off on a nice run. He was getting away off the pick and roll and we didn't get out on him. Then in the second half Roy did a some great things, took the game over, and just put so much pressure on us.'

Roy broke an 87-87 tie with 1:03 remaining in the contest, as he hit a pair of free throws. Then, after a defensive stop by the Blazers, Roy went back to the foul line with 29.5 seconds left and hit two more free throws.

Trailing 91-87, Utah failed to capitalize on the ensuing offensive possession. Roy was fouled again with 17.7 seconds remaining and hit one of two attempts from the charity stripe.

Giricek hit a bank shot for Utah with seven seconds left, making the score 92-89. Once again, Roy stepped to the line with 6.7 seconds remaining on the clock and sealed the victory for his Blazers with two more foul shots.

Utah outscored Portland by one point in both the first and second quarters, as the Jazz owned a 45-43 lead at intermission.

Portland dominated play in the third quarter, as it outscored Utah 27-15 in the frame to take a 70-60 lead heading into the final frame.

The Trail Blazers extended their advantage to 73-60, but Utah came storming back to grab an 83-81 edge.

Game Notes

Roy scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half...Outlaw's 22 points tied a career high...Utah owned a 28-14 rebounding advantage at intermission...Portland shot 24-of-28 from the foul line, while the Jazz were a less impressive 16-of-25 from the charity stripe.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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