BLAZERS BEAT PACERS AS ODEN RETURNS FROM INJURY

Greg Oden returned from a month long absence due to a bone chip in his foot just in time to make his long delayed NBA debut in his home town of Indianapolis, and the Portland Trailblazers took care of the home town Indiana Pacers winning 95-85 on Wednesday night.  Oden missed the entire 2007-2008 season after preseason microfracture knee surgery, and has struggled to stay healthy this season as well. 

More importantly for the Blazers, they won away from the Rose Garden Arena in Portland which has been a tough task this season.  On their home court in the “Rose City”, the Blazers rank among the league’s best with a 28-6 mark.  Away from home, they’ve struggled to a 15-19 record and after Wednesday’s victory have only won three of their last ten away games.  The Blazers play 7 of their remaining 14 regular season games on the road, so it’s imperative for their postseason position that they improve in that area.

Helping the Blazer cause during Oden’s absence has been the solid play of his backup, Joel Przybilla.  Przybilla put on a good show in front of Oden’s hometown fans, posting a ‘double/double’ with 10 points and 11 rebounds.  He was one of six Blazers scoring in double figures, led by Brandon Roy with 20 points to go with six assists and six rebounds.  Travis Outlaw continued his exceptional play in a ‘sixth man’ role with 15 points.  Guards Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez added 14 and 13 points respectively, while LaMarcus Aldridge contributed 12.  Oden only played 12 minutes, but had a few highlights including a monster two handed slam dunk as part of his 4 point, 7 rebound effort. 

Oden realizes that he’ll now have to find his role on a team that has been fairly successful without him:

"I just wanted to catch up with these guys and start to get in a groove with them. I didn't want to come out and try to do too much."

Portland coach Nate McMillan said bringing Oden along slowly was the general plan:

"We didn't try to involve him too much in the offense. We just had him setting some screens. He moved OK. He had a couple blocks, made some shots and had some rebounds. We're just trying to get him back into a rhythm."

Brandon Roy, again displaying the leadership skills rare in a third year player, noted that he’s made an effort to encourage the young center:

"I just tell him to stay positive. Nobody in the world can control injuries. That's just an unfortunate thing. Just know that we need you and when you're out there, do the best you can."

Oden also got some praise from Indiana center Roy Hibbert:

"He's a presence down there and he makes it known, either blocking shots or getting rebounds. He's a good player and there's a reason why he went No. 1. He's going to keep working and the sky is the limit."

The Pacers were led by Danny Granger’s ‘double/double’ as the third year forward out of New Mexico went for 35 points and 10 rebounds.  The only other Pacers in double digits were Hibbert with 14 points and former Blazer Jarrett Jack who added 13 points along with 5 rebounds and 5 steals in a nice all around effort.  Unfortunately for Indiana, the effort and intensity simply wasn’t there which led an obviously frustrated coach Jim O’Brian to summarily dismiss Granger’s solid individual effort:

"We got crushed. It doesn't matter."

He then added:

"We're quickly playing ourselves out of a playoff race is what it's coming down to. I would say the last three games it did not seem like we played with an urgency that the situation calls for. We as a group have to figure out why."

Portland will face the toughest test of their road trip on Thursday night as they travel to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers—a team that has lost only once on their home floor this season.  They’ll play at Milwaukee on Saturday before they head back to the Pacific Northwest for a game against Philadelphia on Monday night.  The Pacers host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday before heading south to Charlotte for a game against the Bobcats on Saturday.  They’ll return home and play the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.