Basketball: Roy scores 19, helps Blazers hold off Kings

PORTLAND, Ore. -- With only 16 games left in the season, Brandon Roy will take any victory, even the clumsy ones.

Roy scored 19 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to what Roy called an "up and down" 88-81 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

"It's not winning the way we want," Roy said, "but we've got to keep trying to push to try to find it."

The Kings pulled to a 74-74 tie in the final quarter, but Roy's jumper with 2:07 remaining made it 85-78 and all but sealed it for the Blazers, who have won five straight against the Kings.

The Blazers were sitting in the eighth spot in the Western Conference, a half-game back of San Antonio as the season winds down and the playoffs loom.

"We're taking these wins, but we know we have to get better if we're going to make a push," said Roy, who added eight rebounds.

Nicolas Batum and Andre Miller each had 14 points for Portland.

Tyreke Evans scored 18 points for the Kings, who have lost three straight overall. Carl Landry finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

"Another game for us against a really good team where we had a chance to win in the last few minutes and came away dry," coach Paul Westphal said.

Marcus Camby returned after sitting out the Blazers' last game, a 118-106 loss at Denver, with a sprained left ankle.

Portland acquired Camby in a trade with the Clippers last month to help Juwan Howard at center in the absence of Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla. The Blazers lost both their big men to knee injuries earlier this season.

Camby, who had six points, was crucial for Portland's defense with five blocked shots.

"We don't win the game tonight if he doesn't make some of the plays he made," Portland coach Nate McMillan said.

Portland opened the fourth quarter with a 73-62 lead, but Francisco Garcia hit a 3-pointer to touch off a 10-0 run capped by Evans' layup that closed the Kings to 73-72.

Jason Thompson's layup tied it at 74, but Camby made an 18-foot jumper to keep Sacramento at bay.

Miller's falling-down jumper put the Blazers up 81-76, before Landry hit a pair of free throws to make it 81-78 with 3:35 left. After Batum hit a layup, Roy made his jumper and Portland pulled away.

The Blazers led by as many as 10 points early in the game before the Kings went ahead 21-16 on Beno Udrih's pull-up jumper and a 3-pointer.

The Blazers took back the lead when Rudy Fernandez's 3-pointer made it 34-33, and they stretched it to 40-33 after Howard's dunk.

Portland opened its biggest lead at 52-40 on LaMarcus Aldridge's layup and free throw, but Landry dunked to close out the half at 52-42.

Landry's jumper narrowed it to 58-56 midway through the third quarter. Landry, acquired from the Rockets in a three-team, nine-player trade last month, had scored at least 20 points in the previous three games.

"We are growing," Landry said. "We just have to learn how to play together."

Notes

Przybilla had surgery Monday evening to repair his re-ruptured right patella tendon. Przybilla was first injured in December and had surgery, but he was re-injured this past Saturday when he slipped in the shower at his home in Wisconsin. No timetable has been set for his return. ... Former Blazer Bill Walton was honored with a throwback jersey as Portland continued its 40th anniversary celebration. ... Kings forward/guard Ime Udoka, a former Blazer, did not play because of a sore left knee and ankle sustained in Sacramento's 108-102 loss to Oklahoma City on Sunday.