The Blazers are 7-0 at home this season but only 4-6 on the road as they head out on a five-game trip that begins Sunday in Detroit and includes stops at New York, Washington, Boston and Toronto.
"We know we have to keep getting better," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "On the road, it's only us. We don't have our crowd. The (Rose Garden) crowd has been great. When we have opportunities (on the road), we have to put games away." "We're very confident, because we're putting things together, but we have a tough road trip ahead of us," Blazer guard Brandon Roy said.
"We have to take the same energy and intensity we have here out on the road with us," Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge said. "Our defense has been good, doing different schemes to slow down Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul. We have to keep that going."
TRAIL BLAZERS 101, HORNETS 86: Portland traded baskets with New Orleans for most of three quarters, then kicked into overdrive with a 17-0 run that was the difference.
"They put it in another gear, and we didn't match it," a subdued Chris Paul said in the New Orleans locker room afterward. "We hung in there for three quarters, and then we laid down."
Paul -- who came into the game averaging 20.6 points while leading the NBA in assists and steals -- finished with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. And the Olympian had five turnovers as Steve Blake and Sergio Rodriguez did a nice job with primary defense and got blanket help from their teammates.
It was a back-and-forth game through the first 2 1/2 quarters, and New Orleans led 69-65 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter when Portland made its surge behind starter LaMarcus Aldridge and reserves Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez, Joel Przybilla and Rodriguez.
When Fernandez buried a 3-pointer five minutes later, the Blazers' advantage was 82-69, and the visitors from the Bayou were toast.
