Zach Randolph scored 16 of his 22 points in the
first half, rookie Brandon Roy added 19 points and the Portland
Trail Blazers beat the Seattle SuperSonics 103-95 on Friday night
for their first pre-season win.
Randolph dominated his matchups with Seattle forwards Chris
Wilcox and Nick Collison in the first half. He went 6-of-9 from the
field and grabbed five rebounds as the Blazers (1-3) shot 61 per
cent in the first half. They shot 62 per cent for the game.
Randolph returned in the game's final minutes, as Portland coach
Nate McMillan went with his starters to keep the lead. Before the
game, McMillan said it was important his young team won in the
pre-season.
Seattle pulled within six points early in the fourth quarter, but
Randolph, Roy and rookie Ime Udoka combined for 12 straight points
as Portland pulled away, delighting Blazers' owner Paul Allen who
sat courtside.
Ray Allen led Seattle (1-3) with 16 points, 10 coming in the
third quarter as the Sonics' rallied from a 54-43 halftime deficit
and briefly took the lead. Most of Seattle's starters played just
the first and third quarters.
Luke Ridnour added 13 points, and Rashard Lewis and Damien
Wilkins each had 12.
Roy, an All-American at Washington last season, was 4-of-7 from
the field and 11-for-12 at the free throw line.
Udoka, a non-roster invitee out of Portland State, added 16
points, 11 in the second half. Udoka scored 16 points on Thursday
night against Utah, just two days after his father passed away in
Portland.
Reserve guard Juan Dixon added 17 points for Portland.
Allen's baseline jumper with three minutes left in the third
quarter pulled Seattle even at 66-66 and Robert Swift's two free
throws a minute later gave the Sonics their first lead since 6-5.
But Portland scored 10 of the final 14 points of the third quarter
and the first seven points of the fourth to push the lead back to
11.