LOS ANGELES (AP) - Although Portland's Brandon Roy was knocking down jumpers, he also was growing frustrated.
"I thought we should have done a much better job of putting them away earlier, but you've just got to take the wins the way they come," Roy said after scoring 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting Monday night in the Trail Blazers' 113-88 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers."Travis (Outlaw) did a good job of stepping up in the fourth quarter and allowed us to separate from them," Roy added.
The Trail Blazers finally took control in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Outlaw scored 10 of his 16 points in the period during the 15-3 burst that put the Trail Blazers up 92-76. He finished with 20 points.
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, whose squad is riddled by injuries, gave Roy credit for his fine play.
"Roy is the guy that drives the bus for them," Dunleavy said. "We tried to pay more attention to him in the second half and he still made some good shots.
"With that, he also was able to create some open shots for other guys, and that is what your star player does."
Portland's Greg Oden went 7-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the line for 16 points and had six rebounds.
Al Thornton scored 23 for Los Angeles, which lost for the 16th time in 18 games. Steve Novak added 21 points, and Fred Jones had 19 points and seven assists. Brian Skinner, back after missing two games with flulike symptoms, had eight points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Rudy Fernandez made a 27-footer at the buzzer ending the third quarter to give the Blazers a 77-73 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
The first half was close, with Eric Gordon's jumper with 2 seconds remaining before halftime pulling Los Angeles to 49-48.
"Unfortunately, our guys just ran out of gas," Dunleavy said of the final quarter.
The Clippers were without power forward Zach Randolph, forward-center Marcus Camby and center Chris Kaman, and point guard Baron Davis, all out with injuries.
Randolph, Camby and Davis combined for 77 points and 29 rebounds in Los Angeles' 120-112 double-overtime win at Portland on Dec. 12.
Los Angeles used its 18th different starting lineup of the season in the rematch, with Jones making his third start at guard.
Notes: Camby (sprained left ankle) is expected back sometime during the Clippers' seven-game road trip that begins Friday in Cleveland. ... Dunleavy said before the game that he was sending Davis home because he had chest congestion, but Davis decided to stay and watch. He has missed 13 consecutive games, the first 12 of them because of a bruised tailbone.
