2-3 Chicago 88 Portland 86

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Chicago 88 Portland 86

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Rookie Brandon Roy is helping the Portland Trail Blazers turn things around at the Rose Garden.

On Saturday he'll try and lead the Blazers to their first five-game winning streak in more than three years when they meet the Chicago Bulls for the first time this season.

Portland (20-28) was tied with Houston, New York and Toronto for the worst home record last season at 15-26. The Trail Blazers then started 2006-07 by losing 12 of their first 20 in front of the home fans.

NBA

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PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 3 (AP) -- The Chicago Bulls started slowly. Ben Gordon wouldn't let them finish the same way.

Gordon scored 15 of his 33 points in the final quarter and the Bulls beat the Portland Trail Blazers 88-86 Saturday night, winning on the road for the second night in a row.

NBA

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- The games keep coming on this seven-game trip, and the Bulls' performance in them is being watched closely as part of a larger game in general manager John Paxson's head.

Should he or shouldn't he deal for Memphis' Pau Gasol?

After the Bulls' first- and third-quarter performance Saturday night at the Rose Garden, Paxson probably wanted to trade the entire roster … yesterday … for anything.

But the Bulls then did what teams with championship aspirations are supposed to do: Despite not making a field goal for the final 6 minutes 21 seconds, they made big plays at big times to win a game that, on paper, they should.

Nothing appears easy, even against the middling Trail Blazers. But the Bulls got 33 points from Ben Gordon and 17 from Kirk Hinrich to prevail 88-86 and win their second game on the road in as many nights.

Tribune

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Photo Gallery from Tribune

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- For the second straight night, the Bulls had an up-and-down game against a sub-.500 team. Neither was exactly the kind of performance to strike fear in the main contenders for the NBA title, but all that matters to Bulls coach Scott Skiles is his team now has a two-game road winning streak.

''We were able to plod our way through and get a win,'' Skiles of the Bulls' 88-86 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night. ''I was proud of the way the guys battled.''

Sun Times

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At first, the Trail Blazers on Saturday waited too long. Too long to play defense. Too long to play with urgency. Too long, basically, to wake up.

And in the end, after another pointed halftime speech from coach Nate McMillan got the team going, the Blazers were too impatient, as rookie Brandon Roy didn't wait long enough for a screen to be set on the game's decisive play in the final seconds.

The result was an 88-86 loss to Chicago in front of a sellout Rose Garden crowd that was treated to a game of huge momentum swings and a sterling 33-point performance from Bulls guard Ben Gordon.

The Oregonian