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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, December 6, 2009

Blazers' Oden expected to miss rest of season


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Portland Trail Blazers' Martell Webster comforts Greg Oden after his injury in the first half against the visiting Houston Rockets at the Rose Garden.

BRUCE ELY | Associated Press

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PORTLAND, Ore. — The somber Portland Trail Blazers found it difficult to celebrate a victory after losing Greg Oden.

Brandon Roy had 28 points and scored the winning basket to help Portland beat Houston, 90-89, last night, but the Blazers were both solemn and resolute with the probable season-ending injury to Oden in the first quarter.

"I told everyone in the locker room I felt this was like a punch to the gut," said Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard, who selected Oden No. 1 in the 2007 draft.

Oden fractured his left kneecap while jumping to defend Aaron Brooks. The former No. 1 draft pick was carried off the floor on a stretcher. Oden will undergo surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season, Blazers spokeswoman Cheri Hanson said.

Oden collapsed to the floor clutching his knee and grimacing in pain midway through the first quarter. Oden's knee did not appear to make any contact with Brooks. Play was stopped for 7 minutes while the 7-footer was tended to. He was wheeled from the court and underwent an MRI.

"I went initially to help him up," Roy said. "Then I saw him and he was yelling, and I thought, 'This is serious.' I almost panicked. I wanted to be like, 'Stop the game!' "

Carl Landry led Houston with 23 points, and Luis Scola had 21. The Rockets came into the game with a three-game road winning streak and they led 87-86 with 37 seconds left after Landry made two free throws.

Roy answered with a fadeaway jumper from the free-throw line to put the Blazers up, but Scola gave the Rockets back the lead with 9.1 seconds on a 20-footer. Roy took the ball at the top of the key and drove down the middle for the winning basket with 3.2 seconds left. Brooks missed on the other end as time expired.

"We couldn't get a stop there in the last 2 minutes," Houston coach Rick Adelman said. "We had a great chance to win."

Portland was already short-handed going into the game, with guard-forward Rudy Fernandez sitting out with a back injury and Travis Outlaw sidelined by a broken foot.

At halftime, the Blazers met with Oden, who was very emotional and apologized for getting hurt, his teammates said.

"He told us to keep fighting," Roy said. "Greg feels he is letting us down."

BOBCATS 106, 76ERS 105

Raymond Felton's driving layup with 4.7 seconds left capped a late comeback and host Charlotte bounced back from an embarrassing loss to beat slumping Philadelphia.

A night after the Bobcats lost to New Jersey to end the Nets' record-worst NBA start at 0-18, they appeared ready to hand the 76ers their first win in more than two weeks. But Boris Diaw hit a 3-pointer and a scoop shot in a late run, and Felton rubbed off a screen on a drive and beat Samuel Dalembert for the go-ahead basket.

Andre Iguodala missed a fadeaway at the buzzer for the 76ers, who blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in their ninth straight loss ahead of Allen Iverson's return tomorrow.

TIMBERWOLVES 108, JAZZ 101

Kevin Love had 18 points and 10 rebounds in his second game back from a broken hand, and host Minnesota won for the third time in 20 games.

Ryan Gomes had 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and Jonny Flynn had 16 points for Minnesota. Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Utah.

RAPTORS 110, BULLS 78

Chris Bosh had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead Toronto past host Chicago for its second victory in two nights following a five-game losing streak.

He had 13 points in the opening quarter alone and hit 9 of 12 shots overall in just 22 minutes, sending Chicago to its seventh loss in eight games.

NUGGETS 106, SPURS 99

Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points, and Chauncey Billups added 18 points to help Denver open a four-game trip with a victory over host San Antonio.

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 27 points, and Tim Duncan had 26.

SUNS 115, KINGS 107

Steve Nash scored 32 points, Amare Stoudemire had 18 points and 21 rebounds and host Phoenix used a late 3-point spree to beat Sacramento.

The Suns, coming off consecutive road losses to New York and Cleveland, improved to 7-0 at home. Tyreke Evans scored 21 points, and Andres Nocioni had 20 for the Kings, who lost for the eighth straight time in Phoenix.

HAWKS 80, MAVERICKS 75

Joe Johnson scored 31 points and Atlanta ended a streak of five winless trips to Dallas.

Josh Smith added 12 points, and Marvin Williams had a career-high 15 rebounds for the Hawks. Dirk Nowitzki had 32 points and nine rebounds for Dallas.

CLIPPERS 88, PACERS 72

Al Thornton scored 19 points, and Baron Davis had eight of his 12 points during a game-ending 18-4 run, leading host Los Angeles over Indiana.

All of the Clippers' starters scored in double digits en route to the team's fifth victory in seven games. Chris Kaman had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Marcus Camby grabbed 17 rebounds and had 12 points.

Troy Murphy led Indiana with 13 points.

MAGIC 126, WARRIORS 118

Vince Carter had 27 points and seven assists, Mickael Pietrus scored a season-high 22 points and Orlando rallied to beat host Golden State.

Dwight Howard added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Jason Williams had 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. The Magic outscored the Warriors 17-4 down the stretch. Monta Ellis had 33 points and seven assists for the Warriors.