Blazers blast hapless Grizzlies

Despite an impressive 28-6 record at the Rose Garden Arena, the Portland Trailblazers have struggled on the road and entered Monday night’s game in Memphis having lost seven of their last eight away games.  Of course the Memphis Grizzlies struggle everywhere and a trip to Memphis was just what the Blazers needed to pull out a much needed road victory.  Behind the solid all around play of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers opened up a 9 point lead after the first quarter and went on to defeat the hapless Grizzlies 103-92.

Memphis won at Detroit on Sunday, but have been awful all season in the second of ‘back to back’ games and the loss to Portland dropped their record in this spot to a woeful 2-15.  Five Blazers scored in double figures led by LaMarcus Aldridge with 22 points and 8 rebounds and Brandon Roy with 20 points, 9 assists and 6 boards. Travis Outlaw added 18 off the bench and Joel Przybilla continued his excellent play in relief of the injured Greg Oden posting a ‘double/double’ with 13 points and 13 rebounds, along with 4 blocked shots.  Steve Blake added 13 points to round out the double digit scorers for Portland.

The Grizzlies also posted five double digit scorers in a losing cause paced by OJ Mayo’s 21 and Mike Conley’s 20.  Rudy Gay added 17, Hakim Warrick 15 off the bench and Marc Gasol 10.  Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins commended the Blazers’ effort in a ‘back to back’ spot, with Portland off a blowout loss to Atlanta on Sunday:

"It was a sign of a good team that got embarrassed Sunday that came back to try and get redemption. And they did."

The Blazers’ Aldridge insisted that with the tight playoff race underway that his team considered this a ‘must win’ game:

"In our division, we're fighting for that sixth or seventh spot. Everybody felt like we had to win this one."

Memphis has now lost eight of their last ten games and faces a tough scheduling stretch, hosting Denver on Wednesday before traveling to New Orleans to play the Hornets on Friday.  They’ll return home on Saturday for a matchup against the Boston Celtics.  Portland will be on the road for the rest of the week with games against Indiana on Wednesday, Cleveland on Thursday and Milwaukee on Saturday.