SAN ANTONIO — Brandon Roy walked out of the shower after what he called the biggest road win of his NBA career and proclaimed, "What's our road record? We're road warriors!"

Um, Brandon, it's 19-21 — but for the young Portland Trail Blazers, they can brag about this one.

Roy scored 26 points and Portland won in San Antonio for the first time since 2002 with a 95-83 victory, moving the Trail Blazers into a three-way tie with the Spurs and Houston for the third-best record in the West with just four games remaining.

Stuck among the bottom seeds in the playoff hunt for weeks, Portland has won six of seven to emerge as a serious contender for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs — where the Trail Blazers haven't been since 2003.

"We won at one of the toughest teams in the league, in April, and they needed a win," Roy said. "So we got to use it if we want it to be something special."

The Spurs, who have lost four of six, blew a 19-point lead in the first half and lost the season series to Portland 3-1. Roger Mason had 18 points as the Spurs lost for the first time since learning this week that Manu Ginobili will miss the playoffs because of an ankle injury.

The Spurs are in danger of letting home-court advantage in the first round slip away after holding the second-best record in the West for most of the season. San Antonio has another big West showdown tomorrow against Utah.

NOTES

Cavaliers: Cleveland rookie forward J.J. Hickson will miss two to three weeks with a sore lower back. Hickson underwent an MRI yesterday and the club said the test revealed a "stress reaction" in his back. He has been advised to get rest and treatment.

Spurs: San Antonio signed guard Marcus Williams from their NBA Development League team and waived guard/forward Malik Hairston. Williams was promoted from Austin, where he averaged 23 points, seven rebounds and 5.3 assists in 45 games. Hairston averaged 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15 games for the Spurs this season.