Brandon Roy

If the Blazers are going to be a legit championship contender someday — like before Greg Oden needs a hip replacement — they need to get in the habit of putting away inferior teams early and not making things so hard on themselves. Earlier in the week, Portland needed 14-0 run in the fourth quarter and some Brandon Roy free throws in the final seconds to beat the Danny Granger-less Pacers, and it turned around and hurt them in the following night’s huge divisional game in Denver, where the Blazers were clearly exhausted. Last night, the Blazers struggled to get past a T’Wolves team (sans Al Jefferson) they really should have smashed, which could come back to bite them when they face the Lakers tomorrow … In a game that went back-and-forth from start to finish, B-Roy (31 pts, 6 asts) gave the Blazers their biggest lead during a run in the fourth where he had a hand in 13 straight points (eight of his own, plus two assists). The Woves wouldn’t go away, though, cutting the lead to one with 10 seconds left, but after Roy hit another free throw, Randy Foye missed a triple at the buzzer … Sebastian Telfair showed how good he could be if he ever gets a jumper. Bassy (18 pts, 7 asts, 1 turnover) mixed up Steve Blake and hit him with a couple pull-up J’s, which opened things up for him to attack the basket. If he can be consistent with that shot, he’ll be more than a below-average starter in the League … The almost-highlight of the night was when Jerryd Bayless drove baseline and tried to dunk on Rodney Carney. With two hands. But you know Carney can fly, so he met Bayless at the rim and blocked him. Had Bayless caught that dunk, it’d be all over YouTube this morning … One of the Portland announcers after Bayless almost harassed Kevin Ollie into a turnover near midcourt: “How about a five-seconds call?” They have that in the NBA? … LeBron vs. D-Wade wasn’t another 80-point shootout, but entertaining nonetheless. LeBron posted a J-Kidd triple-double (14 pts, 10 rebs, 12 asts) while Wade had 25 points, eight boards, 12 dimes and four steals, but the Cavs won it primarily due to Mo Williams (29 pts). He took over in the latter stages of the fourth, knocking down threes and floaters and getting inside for layups while the defense focused on LeBron. Said LBJ afterwards, “It’s no surprise to us what he can do out there. It’s kind of surprising to you guys because you’re not used to having two guys put up these kind of numbers on the same (Cavs) team. It’s been a while, since, what, Brad Daugherty and Mark Price?” … Miami still had a chance, down six in the final minute, but after Wade went to the basket on two straight occasions and took some contact with no whistle, he and Erik Spoelstra flipped out on the refs and drew techs. For Wade it was his second, meaning he (and the Heat’s best chance of stealing a win) was gone, and Spoelstra’s tech on top of that gave the Cavs two shots and the ball to seal it … Does Josh Smith need to fight with his coach before every game in order to play like he did against the Pistons last night? Looking about as mentally focused and intense as he has all season, Smith put up 19 points, 12 boards and four blocks in a much-needed win for the Hawks. Granted, all that focus still can’t buy him a jumper (6-17 FG), but at least he’s trying. J-Smoove can be an All-Star in the right situation, and the Hawks should by all rights be that ideal situation; for one, on most other teams he’d be playing small forward and not taking advantage of his strengths. However it happens, Smith and Mike Woodson need to iron out their differences and at least not let them affect the job … Other big stat lines from Saturday: Richard Jefferson dropped 35 on the Warriors in a win; Chris Paul had 21 points, 13 dimes and six steals in a win over OKC; Andre Miller had 20 points and 10 dimes in a win over Memphis, while Mike Conley went for 31 and nine in the loss; Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 and Jason Terry added 33 in a win over the Wizards; and Gerald Wallace put up 23 points, 13 boards, five assists and three steals in a win at New York … One play from that Hornets/Thunder game that Scott Brooks is either going to watch 100 times today or never want to watch ever again: After Julian Wright missed a three from the corner, he was able to rebound his own miss (with nobody even close to him) and dart into the paint for a contest-worthy dunk (with three guys standing there watching him). Just awful defense, rebounding and overall everything by the Thunder on that one … E-mail from Jed during the Bobcats/Knicks: “I’ve never seen a worse technical foul than the one called they just called on Nate Robinson. It really needs to be mentioned because it was absurd. Nate hit a three, then looked at the ref and without saying anything, made a very quick motion that he’d been hit on the elbow during the shot. It wasn’t obnoxious or brash. He never said a word. And the ref T’d him up immediately. They showed the replay and that was exactly what happened. Later they showed Nate on the bench talking about it, completely bewildered.” The funny part is that Nate does so much other stuff during your average game that is much worse — he damn near starts a fight once a week, yet he gets a T for that. You have to wonder if these refs had been told to keep an eye on him and be wary, hence the quick trigger … We’re out like Brad Daugherty …