Posted 03/12/2010 12:49 PM

 It wasn't pretty, it wasn't dominating, and it wasn't easy watching three quarters of action. But a win is a win and I'll take it! Through three and a half quarters, Portland played this game to a tee as they always have in Oakland: bad shot selection, no hustle or energy, and giving into the temptation of playing the Warriors way. If it wasn't for foul trouble knocking on the Golden State door, as Curry, Maggette, and Ellis all battled it throughout the night, and Brandon Roy literally putting the team on his back and carrying his teammates, Portland extends their losing streak to 10 games at Oracle Arena. What got Portland clicking in the 4th was a brilliant move by Coach McMillan to switch up the defense and throw a zone at Golden State. It tripped them up, causing them to score a season-low nine points in one quarter. Also, the defensive intensity was raised more than a few notches. Finally it was the Blazers grabbing all the loose balls and playing with a desire and purpose. The turning point occurred with about three minutes left in the game when his teammates finally found him. I'm talking about Rudy and his flair for the dramatic. He stepped up and knocked down two huge, momentum boosting threes to push the Blazers over the top.

"I'm happy it's over, but I'm happier about what we did," McMillan said. "The game plan we talked about executing, we did. We pounded them on the boards, we got to the free-throw line, we went inside with [Andre] Miller, Brandon and LaMarcus [Aldridge]."

"This is the first time I think we ever really guarded them in the fourth quarter," Roy said. "Having Camby and LaMarcus, being able to switch out on guards, that was big for us."

There must be something about TNT on Thursday nights and Brandon Roy. Roy's most spectacular and improbable performances happen late into the night hours. The 30 foot three-point heave to knock off the Rockets, 52 points in a come from behind win over the Suns, and now a 41 point barrage to help Portland exercise more road demons this season. What is most impressive about Roy's game is how efficiently he operates, like a surgeon he slices up the defense on his own terms. It only took him 22 shots to drop 41, making 14 of them, and got to the line 17 times with 13 hits. Scoring wasn't the only facet of his game in rhythm last night, as he grabbed 8 rebounds, handed out 3 assists, and had 2 steals. If the Trail Blazers are serious about moving up in the West, it's a damn good sign to see Roy looking like the Roy-Wonder pre-hamstring injury.

"The biggest thing was, I was trying to be more patient," said Roy, who had read some of Ellis' quotes and filed them away. "I felt like in the [Nov. 20] game, I settled for too many outside shots. ... The defense gives you jumpers, but tonight I just wanted to be patient and make sure I got as many easy baskets as possible."

The two unsung heroes of the night go to Andre Miller and Marcus Camby. Again, Miller can lull you to sleep at times with his play, but you look up at the box score and see he's stuffing the stat sheet. Tonight was no different as he compiled 15 points (4-15), 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Often in the earlier portion of the game, he was one of the only players getting his hands dirty by going inside and fighting for the offensive rebounds. While Dre was doing a little bit of everything, Camby is starting to live up to his hype of being a rebounding monster. A monstrous 17 boards were gobbled up by the Camby-Man, including 9 on the offensive glass which helped give Portland a sizable 22-11 edge on the offensive glass and a 53-36 total advantage. I still see too many Blazers standing and watching, assuming Camby is going to gran the rebound. He is a beast on the boards, but he can't do it all. The entire team needs to start helping him out a bit more often.

Entering the 4th quarter, Portland saw themselves in a fairly large hole, down 13, on the road in a hostile environment where the franchise has not won in since November of 2004. For a lack of a better term, the Blazers were sleepwalking through the first 36 minutes of the game. Whatever Coach Nate did or said, probably yelled, needs to be bottled up and stored for the rest of the season. The Trail Blazers were lucky they were playing against a team who is prone to losing double-digit leads, as this was their 13th loss I believe after being up 10 or more, because if they think they can flip it on or off at their dispense, it's going to get ugly against the good teams.