behind Roy's 31 points

GEOFFREY C. ARNOLD

The Trail Blazers nearly got caught looking ahead before putting away pesky Minnesota 95-93 Saturday night in the Rose Garden.

Brandon Roy scored 31 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points and 11 rebounds, seven of them on offense.

The Blazers scuffled all night with a team that has now lost nine consecutive games.

"It was tough," coach Nate McMillan said. "We made it a tough game."

Portland may have been thinking more about their home game against the conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. The Blazers also struggled to beat Indiana, another losing team, at home on Wednesday before a showdown for the Northwest Division lead in Denver on Thursday.

Regardless, the Timberwolves didn't receive the e-mail that they were supposed to be an easy opponent for the Blazers. Behind the hot shooting of Ryan Gomes (28 points), Randy Foye (23) and former Blazer Sebastian Telfair (18), Minnesota had a chance to win at the buzzer. But Foye's three-point attempt was barely long, bouncing off the back rim.

The game featured 25 lead changes, the most of the season.

Aldridge scored the first Portland points on a layup after a steal. Gomes made a 16-foot jumper before Nicolas Batum's two free throws gave the Blazers a lead early in the game.

Roy made a rainbow-like three-point shot with the shot clock winding down, and Steve Blake duplicated Roy's effort to give the Blazers a 12-8 lead. Telfair's drive and layup cut the lead to 12-10, but Aldridge responded with a 20-foot, step-back jumper with 6:16 remaining.

Minnesota's Mike Miller scored two consecutive baskets with a driving layup and his 25-foot three-pointer gave the Timberwolves a 17-16 lead. Roy came right back with a 16-foot jumper and Batum scored on a layup. But Gomes made a three-point shot to tie the game 20-20 with 3:16 left in the quarter.

Roy scored on consecutive baskets as part of his 11 first-quarter points to give the Blazers a 24-20 lead and it looked as if the Blazers were going to start pulling away. But the Blazers didn't make another basket and the Timberwolves Randy Foye made a 23-foot jumper to close out the first quarter.

Foye made two free throws to start the scoring as the Timberwolves pulled to within 26-24 in the second quarter. Rudy Fernandez drove to the basket and made a finger roll, which was followed by Aldridge making two free throws to give the Blazers a 30-24 lead.

But as was the case all evening when Portland appeared ready to pull away, Minnesota quickly closed the gap.

Foye scored again on a short turnaround jumper. After a Sergio Rodriguez layup, the Timberwolves continued to hang tough, with forward Craig Smith scoring on a seven-foot bank shot, a power move to the basket and scoring a short jump hook as the Timberwolves cut the Blazers' lead to 32-30 with 7:59 remaining.

The Timberwolves took the lead again at 40-39, after Gomes made a jump shot. Travis Outlaw, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, responded with consecutive baskets, his second one giving the Blazers a slim 43-42 lead late in the quarter. After a couple more lead changes, the Blazers took a 47-46 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The lead changes continued in the second half, and, as usual, Roy made most of the key shots for Portland.

"He made big play after big play," McMillan said. "Every time they got close, he was basically the difference."

The question left is, how long can the Blazers win this way?

"We have to pick up our intensity," McMillan said. "We came out kind of slow and it took us a while to get started."