With Brandon Roy likely to be out a long time the Blazers need Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum to pick up the slack and they are more than capable of doing just that. 24-year old Wesley Matthews will be replacing Roy as the starting shooting guard. Matthews has played in 33 games (20 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 31.0 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 46% shooting from the floor. Nicolas Batum will replace Wesley Matthews as the starting small forward while Roy is out of action. Batum has played in 32 games (23 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 27.8 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. The Trailblazers are a better team with Brandon Roy healthy but they should be in good hands with Matthews & Batum picking up the slack.

The Trailblazers will be without 26-year old shooting guard Brandon Roy indefinitely due to knee problems. Roy has played in 23 games (all starts) so far this year for the Blazers and he is averaging 35.3 minutes, 16.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Roy is only shooting 39.9% from the floor so far this year. You can tell his knees have been effecting his game as he just doesn’t have the explosiveness to the basket right now. The Blazers were right to shut him down for a while to see if some rest and relaxation help the situation. Roy has now played in 297 games (295 starts) in his first five years with the Blazers and he is averaging 36.8 minutes, 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Blazers hope to have Roy back at some point this year because they are a lot better with him than without him.

UPDATE: (1/14/2011) - Brandon Roy is going to have arthroscopic knee surgery on both knees which will keep him out at least another 4-8 weeks.

The Blazers took it ot the Jazz last night on both ends of the court. Wesley Matthews led the way for the Blazers in this game with 30 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. LaMarcus Aldridge also had a solid game with 27 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Andre Miller was solid running the offense with 16 points and 10 assist last night. Marcus Camby returned from injury last night and all he did was score 4 points, snap up 20 rebounds, dish out 5 assists, steal the ball twice and he blocked 2 shots in 35 minutes on the floor. The Trailblazers are now 17-16 on the year.

The Nuggets were outrebounded 45-38 and they were a tad undermanned due to injuries so this wasn’t much of a surprise. LaMarcus Aldridge turned in another great game with 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and an amazing 7 blocked shots! Nicolas Batum also filled up the stat sheet in this game with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. Rudy Fernandez pitched in with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot in only 20 minutes on the court. The Trailblazers are now 16-16 on the year.

25-year old power forward has taken his game to a new level as of late. In his last six games, Aldridge is averaging 41.3 minutes, 26.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Aldridge is shooting 55.2% of his shots from the floor (64 of 116) over his last six games as he has been the Blazers’ go-to man lately. Aldridge has now played in 31 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 38.6 minutes, 19.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocked shots per game. The Blazers need Aldridge to keep up the good work as they can’t really depend on Brandon Roy from night to night due to his knees which are shot.