Roy's turnaround fadeaway jumper with 31.9 seconds put Portland on top for good. The All-Star dropped in a 30-footer to beat Houston 101-99 Thursday night, and the Blazers opened their home schedule with a victory over San Antonio.

"We're going to do all we can to protect our home court," Roy said. "Every game so far has come down to the wire."

Al Jefferson finished with 27 points after starting off 3-for-10 from the field for Minnesota in its fifth straight loss. Mike Miller had 14 points and six assists.

The Timberwolves missed three chances in the final seconds, with Jefferson and Kevin Love missing rebound put-backs. Travis Outlaw hit two free throws for Portland, then put the game away by stealing the inbound pass.

The Blazers are 0-3 on the road, and will begin a five-game trip Monday night in Orlando. Portland finished 41-41 last season but was just 13-28 away from home.

"Not saying we're not comfortable on the road, but we're a lot more comfortable here," Blazers forward Channing Frye said. "Tonight we were able to run - the crowd is always supporting us. Now we have to be professionals and go out on the road and get some wins."

After relegating Randy Foye and Ryan Gomes to the bench in favor of Sebastian Telfair and Love, The Timberwolves never led in a l21-109 loss Friday night at Sacramento. They have lost five in a row against the Blazers, and last won in Portland on Dec. 7, 2005.

Minnesota coach Randy Wittman was mostly positive after the game.

"If we play with thus kind of intensity and effort every night then we are going to be all right," he said. "They've got to be able to see that. It's just as simple as that."

Rashard McCants scored all 13 of his points in the second quarter for the Timberwolves, who led by 12 in the first half but were outscored 54-44 after halftime. The Blazers had trouble getting high percentage shots and shot just 38 percent in the first half.

"I thought tonight we took a step forward on defense," Foye said. "Just watching film this morning, we were just terrible last night. We had to get it back on track and that's what we were saying in the huddle."

Corey Brewer's jumper at 9:00 in the third put Minnesota up 56-44. But Portland went on a 12-1 run to cut it to 57-56. The Timberwolves went into the final period leading 70-69. Portland started off the fourth with a 7-2 run to take the lead. Miller tied it at 87 with 3-pointer at 2:24.

Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez each had 11 points for Portland.

Foye had 11 for Minnesota, and Craig Smith added 10.

Notes

Blazers backup point guard Sergio Rodriguez had two points and five assists in 13 minutes, a day after going public with his unhappiness over playing time. Rodriguez averaged 9.4 minutes through the first five games. ... Love, the fifth overall pick in the draft, had two points and seven rebounds in his second career start. ... Injured center Greg Oden (foot) will join the Blazers on their five-game trip, but it hasn't been decided whether he will play in any of the games.