Outlaw, Roy Lead Blazers Past Warriors

Baron Davis led the Warriors with 23 points and 11 assists.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Trail Blazers were all quizzed about their recent success. Jarrett Jack gave perhaps the most concise reply.

"I think it's just a contagious confidence,'' he said.

The Blazers have won five straight, including Wednesday night's 105-95 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Travis Outlaw came off the bench to lead Portland with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Outlaw's dunk with 3:20 left gave the Blazers a 100-89 lead, and James Jones followed up with a 3-pointer to put it away.

The Blazers, who built a 14-point lead early but briefly lost their advantage in the third quarter, had not won five straight since a run last December.

Brandon Roy had 21 points and seven assists, while Joel Przybilla had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Portland. Jones added 21 points, also off the bench.

"It's the same thing in all of our victories, we've got a number of guys coming to play. It was no different tonight, we had a lot of guys step up,'' Roy said.

Golden State, coming off a victory at home over San Antonio on Tuesday night, has won 12 of its previous 15 games. Baron Davis led the Warriors with 23 points and 11 assists.

The Blazers were without LaMarcus Aldridge, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, for the second straight game. Aldridge is day-to-day with plantar fasciitis, a painful foot condition.

Additionally, the Blazers lost forward Martell Webster during the game because of the flu.

Starting guard Monta Ellis did not play for Golden State because of a strained left thigh.

"Definitely not having Monta out there is a big problem,'' Stephen Jackson said. "We play a lot faster. It slowed us down a lot and we didn't have an extra ball handler out there.''

Both teams were playing the second of back-to-back games. The Warriors beat the Spurs 96-84 at home on Tuesday night, while the Blazers won 97-89 at Utah.

"Tonight I thought the guys, even short-handed, really stepped up and showed how they have grown in the last week,'' Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "I really think the whole team is getting a feel of what we want to do.''

Tied at 22 after the first quarter, the Blazers went on a 20-6 run capped by Jones' 3-pointer and a pair of free throws, to go up 42-28.

Golden State came back to close within 51-46 on Austin Croshere's 3-pointer, and trailed by 54-49 at the half.

The Warriors continued their comeback after the break and narrowed it to 61-60 on Stephen Jackson's steal and dunk. Davis gave Golden State the lead with a 16-foot jumper.

The Blazers regrouped and pulled ahead with a 12-2 run, going up 79-69 after Jones' jumper.

"We were beaten by a better team tonight and that will happen,'' Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "We didn't play well enough to win and they did.''

The Blazers raised their home record to 8-3.

"You come in here and you want to win, you're going to have to take it from us,'' Jack said. "We're not giving anything away.''

Story by: The Associated Press

Courtesy: NBA.com

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