--G Brandon Roy's 18-point fourth quarter was the highest quarter of his career, besting a 17-point third quarter in a Dec. 18 victory over Phoenix. Portland's shooting guard was 7-for-8 in the period, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range. Roy was 2-for-2 from the foul line and dished out three assists in another of a series of clutch performances this season.
"We tried different guys, we tried double-teaming him, and he threw it out (to teammates)," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "We ran and we blitzed him. We had two guys on him anytime there was a screen. We guarded him." Triano could have fooled the Blazers, who couldn't believe their good fortune in what appeared to be strictly man-to-man coverage on Roy -- primarily by an overmatched Jamario Moon -- the entire way.
"Once Brandon hit three in a row (in the fourth quarter), I was looking down there to see what (the Raptors) were doing," Portland F Travis Outlaw said with a smile. "It was like, 'Do you know he scored 52 points the other night?'"
--C Greg Oden matched Toronto's all-star center, Jermaine O'Neal, stride for stride. Oden was 5-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line in a 16-point, 10-rebound, 28-minute masterpiece. O'Neal finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.
"O'Neal is one of the most physical 5 men in the league, and he got off to a good start, but Greg stood up to the challenge," coach Nate McMillan said. "He got post position, was able to score and did a nice job defensively."
McMillan had a talk with Oden on Friday, telling him to "unwrap yourself," the coach said. "Take the cover off. Let people know who you are."
"He has a great personality," McMillan said of the rookie. "He's a good person. He wants to do well. Tonight he just went out and played, had some fun with it. This is the year for him to have fun."
Said Oden: "(McMillan) told me, 'Just go out there and play. It's going to take you awhile to get relaxed and used to everything. Have fun and play hard. Play hard for five minutes and we'll get Joel (Przybilla) in there.'"
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's always good when you can play somebody physical. I can hit (Jermaine O'Neal), and he's going to hit me back. He's not going to do all that flopping stuff that us bigs don't really like that much." -- C Greg Oden, after collecting 16 points and 10 rebounds in Portland's Saturday win over Toronto.
