Brandon Roy scored 17 points, and had seven assists and six rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers extended their NBA season-high winning streak to 11 games with an 89-79 Christmas Day victory over the visiting Seattle SuperSonics.
Jarrett Jack also had 17 points, while Channing Frye and Steve Blake added a dozen each for the Blazers, who haven't lost since Dec. 2, when they dropped a 100-79 road decision to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.
Trail Blazers (from left) Martell Webster, Brandon Roy and Travis Outlaw get fired up before their team defeated Seattle 89-79 for its 11th straight win.
(Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
Their subsequent run has vaulted Portland (16-12) into second spot in the Northwest Division, just a half game behind the Denver Nuggets.
"We're going out there with all the confidence in the world, and a sense of urgency at the same time," forward Martell Webster said. "It's resulting in wins."
The Blazers will have a good chance to take their streak even further over their next two games, both at the Rose Garden.
On Friday, they play the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have the league's worst record at 4-22. Portland then plays the Philadelphia 76ers — plodding along at 11-16 — before a tougher test on New Year's Eve against the Utah Jazz (15-14).
Seattle (8-20) didn't offer much of a challenge Tuesday.
Rookie Kevin Durant impressed by leading all scorers with 23 points, but did so on just 8-of-20 shooting, while Wally Szczerbiak chipped in 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
"It really doesn't seem like Christmas. I'm used to sitting in the house and watching Kobe [Bryant] play," Durant said. "It's an honour playing on a great day like this, but it would have been better if we had gotten the win."
Nick Collison paired his nine points with 14 rebounds, but was beaten in the battle for the boards by Portland's Joel Przybilla, who grabbed 16 to go with six points.
The Christmas Day matchup had originally been billed as the first meeting between Durant and fellow phenom Greg Oden, selected by the Blazers first overall in last June's draft before Seattle snapped up Durant. But the showdown was nixed before the season began when Oden underwent microfracture knee surgery that will keep him out for the entire 2007-08 campaign.
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