Brandon Roy, Blazers rout New Orleans to stay perfect at home

The Portland Trailblazers have put together a deep, versatile team with any number of players capable of taking over the game on any given night.  On Friday, however, it was the play of their franchise bedrock, Brandon Roy, which spurred the team to a 101-86 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland.  With the win the Blazers upped their home record to 7-0 and remain along with the Cleveland Cavs the only teams in the NBA undefeated in their own building.

Roy basically did it all—when he wasn’t scoring, he was rebounding and getting his teammates involved in the game.  The All Star shooting guard finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds and a season high 10 assists.  While he’s becoming known for his overly critical assessment of his team’s play, his post game comments on Friday night sounded cautiously optimistic:

"I'm not going to go out on a limb and say we're going to win a championship. We have tons of room to improve. That's why I think we're a pretty good team because we're winning games and we still have room to improve."

After a closely contested first half, the Hornets managed to take a four point lead early in the second half on baskets by Peja Stojakovic and James Posey.  It was all downhill from there, as Portland went on a 17-0 run in the third quarter to put the game on ice.  The Blazers would stretch their lead to 17 points late in the game before settling for the final 15 point margin of victory.  Stojakovic led the Hornets with 21 points, while Chris Paul added 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.

With his team’s fifth straight win over the Hornets in the Rose City, Blazer coach Nate McMillan echoed Brandon Roy’s cautious optimism about his charges:

“Still, we've got to keep improving. I'm really pleased with our games at home and the fan support we get but we've got to make our own noise out on the road. I'm happy with our record and where we are but there's a lot of season left and we must continue to get better.”

The Hornets’ Chris Paul was far less pleased with where his team is at:

"We are nowhere near where we need to be. We have a lot of work to do, mentally, physically ... as a team. It's a long season but the only way that we're going to get in the playoffs is if we start winning games."

The Blazers will face a tough test on the road this Sunday, as they travel to Detroit to take on Alan Iverson and the Pistons.  They’ll then travel to New York, Washington, Boston and Toronto on a weeklong East Coast road trip.  New Orleans will return to the Crescent City for a three game home stand against Phoenix, Memphis and Charlotte.