PORTLAND, Ore.(AP) Trail Blazers guard Steve
Blake couldn't have put Portland's philosophy at this point of the
season any more plainly."Got to get wins, you know?'' he said
after the Blazers, bunched in the crowded middle of the Western
Conference standings, routed the San Antonio Spurs 102-84 on Sunday
night.Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 26 points for Portland, spoiling the return of Tim Duncan to the Spurs.The
Spurs didn't even play Duncan in the fourth quarter after Portland led
by as many as 29 points. The All-Star forward had missed the last three
games with a right quad injury."I hate to walk back into a situation like this and not play well and get blown out,'' Duncan said.Blake added 15 for the Blazers, who won their ninth straight at the Rose Garden Arena. Portland is 24-5 at home this season.Fighting
for its first playoff appearance since 2002-03, Portland was coming off
a 1-2 road trip that included a 99-84 loss to the Spurs in San Antonio
on Wednesday. Tony Parker led the way with 39 points in that one.He had 15 against Blazers on Sunday, and, like Duncan, did not play the fourth quarter.Duncan,
who leads the Spurs with an average of 20.7 points and 10.7 rebounds,
had 14 points in his return. He sat out thee games after his knee
became stiff last Tuesday before a game against Dallas.The Spurs were coming off a 97-86 loss at home Friday to the Cavaliers, which ended a four-game winning streak.The
Blazers were still without rookie center Greg Oden, who missed his
seventh game with bone chip in his left knee. He suffered the injury
against Golden State before the All-Star break. It is not believed the
injury will keep Oden out for an extended period. Oden has had light
workouts with the team in recent days.The top pick in the 2007
draft, Oden sat out last season after microfracture surgery on his
right knee. He also missed six games early this season with a foot
injury.Portland jumped to a 20-12 lead after Blake's 3-pointer, then extended it to 31-19 on another 3 from Blake.Channing
Frye, who has been getting more playing time because of Oden's absence,
hit consecutive layups that gave the Blazers a 44-21 lead.Frye finished with 12 points.Rudy Fernandez's 3-pointer made it 52-28 and the Trail Blazers led 64-37 at the half.In the fourth quarter, with most of the starters watching from the bench, the Rose Garden fans got so bored they started a wave."To
start the game that way against a team we had beaten pretty good quite
recently was disappointing. It shows possibly a laissez-faire sort of
attitude,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I would have expected us
to come out knowing we were in for a heck of a battle. I'm not sure we
came with the approach or respect we needed.''There was concern
when Roy went to the locker room midway through the third quarter. Roy
later said he was having trouble with one of his shoes.He eventually returned but played only sparingly the rest of the way because of the Blazers' decisive margin."We looked like the younger, fresher team out there,'' Roy said. "We were more aggressive and played with a lot more energy.''Notes:
San Antonio reserve guard Malik Hariston, a rookie who went to the
University of Oregon, was greeted with warm applause when he entered
the game in the second quarter. ... Portland's 64 first-half points
tied the mark for the most for a Spurs opponent. ... San Antonio
remained without Manu Ginobili, expected to miss at least another week
with an ankle injury.