Blazers Win in Minnesota, Greg Oden Brings A Little Faith Back to the People of Portland

Tonight, the Blazers played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota, their second away game of this five game road trip and third away game over all. Going into this game, the Wolves were looking for some payback after the Blazers cruised to a win over them at the Rose Garden and we were looking for our tenth consecutive win over Minnesota.

Our starting five tonight:

Brandon Roy
LaMarcus Aldridge
Steve Blake
Andre Miller
Greg Oden

The three guard lineup has been doing wonders for the team and we will probably continue to see more of it until possibly the Charlotte game where we would see an uneven match up. Nonetheless, this lineup continued to show dominance in tonight's game. I always like to give love to the highest scorer of the night first, so ladies and gentlemen please give it up for Greg Oden! G.O. was the night's high scorer, and all around amazing player, with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. He got a double double before the first half was even over. On top of all the amazing Greg Oden was producing tonight he put his name in the point guard drawing by taking the ball down the court on a fast break. That had to be my favorite play(along with quite a few others, this play was only showed about 1000 times on CSN)of the season so far. It was really nice to see a happy, carefree and comedic Oden. After passing the ball to LMA who passed it back to Greg who then dunked it, Greg looked at the bench and Nate McMillan and had the biggest smile on his face. It doesn't get better than that. Oh, did I mention Greg didn't have a single foul tonight? Yeah, your eyes do not fool you Blazer Nation, 0 fouls for the entire game.

Anyway, Greg Oden praise section done, there were other players out there too believe it or not. Rudy Fernandez had a hot night with 15 points,  2 rebounds and 5 assists! Rudy was 5 of 7 from the field and shot 4 of 4 from the 3-point line. Definitely an improvement from his slow start this season. Martell Webster had a great night with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Brandon Roy came away with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Roy is learning more and more how to play without the ball. I think he's been the star, carrying this team for so long that for a while there he wasn't sure how to deal with not having as many touches as he used to but his play is looking wiser everyday. LaMarcus Aldridge had a slow start but was able to carry the team for a bit in the late 3rd and early 4th quarters. He came away with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Also something to note is Joel Przybilla's 4 blocked shots, 3 of which came within about 2 minutes of coming into the game. Very nice Thrilla, verrrry nice. Oh and no Blazer had more than 3 fouls tonight. Nice to see some good clean defense.

The Blazers were able to come away with the win,  107 - 84. This 23 point win is their biggest ever in Minnesota beating last year's 20 point win. The Blazers are now 5 - 3 in the season, tying them with the Denver Nuggets for the NW Division. So, to all of you doubters out there who were ready to jump after the Blazers lost to Atlanta, take this into consideration: this start for the Blazers has been their best 9 game start since the 1999-2000 season. Better believe it.

The Blazers next take on Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets in New Orleans on Friday. The game will air on Comcast Sportsnet at 5 PM PST. Some keys to this game will be:

• Shutting CP3 down! - This guy can push the momentum on both ends, so we will need to keep him out of the paint and avoid sending him to the free throw line. 
• Turnovers kill us! - We need to make clean passes and stop fastbreak points on the other end
• Free Throws are GOLD - We're doing a whole lot better getting to the line and making those shots, but FT's are always key to a good clean win.

(Pictures Associated Press)