Having had their four-game winning streak snapped in their last contest, the Portland Trail Blazers look to bounce back by facing a team they've dominated of late.
The Blazers try for their sixth consecutive win over the host Minnesota Timberwolves, who'll look to avoid their seventh straight loss overall as the teams meet on Saturday night for the second time in a week.Portland (5-4) was held to its second-lowest point total of the season in an 87-82 loss at New Orleans on Friday to conclude a 2-1 road trip. The Blazers were held to two field goals - both 3-pointers by Brandon Roy - in the final 6:59.
"They picked up the pressure, and we stopped being aggressive and started running around," said Roy, who had a team-high 21 points and six assists. "We almost look timid sometimes. We have to work on that."
Injury-plagued center Greg Oden, the No. 1 overall pick by Portland in the 2007 draft, scored a career-best 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 24 minutes in his second game back from a sprained foot he suffered in the season opener.
Portland tries to regroup against Minnesota (1-6), which has gone winless since beating Sacramento 98-96 to open the season on Oct. 29. The Blazers continued their dominance of the Timberwolves with a 97-93 home win last Saturday and have taken nine of the last 11 meetings.
Minnesota posted a 94-93 win at home on March 25, 2007 for its most recent victory over Portland.
Roy, averaging 21.0 points and 5.3 assists this season, had 24 and nine against the Timberwolves earlier this month. He's averaging 24.0 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 49.5 percent in his last six games versus Minnesota.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 15 points on Friday and 24 with 13 rebounds in his last game against Minnesota, is averaging 21.6 points in last five versus the Timberwolves.
Minnesota lost 113-110 in overtime at Golden State on Tuesday to conclude a three-game western road trip. Al Jefferson had 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Timberwolves, who led by 10 with 7:06 left, then missed their first five shots in the extra session before Randy Foye scored with 1:07 remaining.
"We were ready to win the game, that's what I liked," Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman said. "They fought. There's a lot of good things in this but the most important one's a bad thing (losing). I don't know what else to say. We have to learn how to close games out."
Reserves Rashad McCants and Ryan Gomes each added 18 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, who lost 10 of 11 before winning their second game last season.
"The mood is tough, but no one feels sorry for us," Minnesota's Mike Miller said.
Averaging 22.1 points and 10.7 rebounds this season, Jefferson had 27 points at Portland last Saturday. He is averaging 21.7 points and 10 rebounds in his last six games versus the Blazers.
