LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to their 18th win in the last 20 games with a 99-73 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Monday. Brandon Roy scored 16 points andJarrett Jack had 15.Travis Outlaw 13 and James Jones 10.Joel Przybilla had a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with nine points as Portland rebounded from a 116-109 double-overtime loss to the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday. Vince Carter and Jason Kidd each had 10 points.Aldridge hit a 19-foot jumper for the first points of the game and the Trail Blazers surged to an 8-1 lead. The Nets reserves provided a spark, opening the second quarter with an 8-2 run that trimmed the Trail Blazers lead to 27-20 as Bostjan Nachbar, Antoine Wright, Darrell Armstrong and Allen had the baskets.

Injured Washington Wizards All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas promotes in his Adidas advertisement. A return to the hardwood this season will be impossible for Arenas. Arenas has been sidelined for quite some time this season because of knee surgery. He underwent surgery in April to repair a torn lateral meniscus, then had another procedure performed in November to repair a partial tear in the left medial meniscus. The Wizards will play six of the next 11 games on the road.  Pus they are 7-8 as the guest in 2007-08.

Boston Celtics were in serious competition for a lottery pick and were what appeared to be light years away from putting a competitive team on the floor several months ago. The Celtics are focused and are playing with a since of urgency. ticket sales went through the roof but I don’t think that anyone predicted the Celtics to have 29 wins and 3 losses which just happens to be the best record in the league when the trades were made in the off season there was immediate excitement.

Friday night, the Nets won a 102-96 victory against Charlotte. By this, they put the finishing touch on their first four-game winning streak and got back to .500 with a 16-16 record. The victory was not easy. At first sight, the Nets thought they would beat them quickly and without much trouble, but that was not the case. They trailed by 13 points early in the second quarter and did not take their first lead until Carter scored on a layup with 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Carter led the Nets with 30 points. Richard Jefferson, had 28, with 20 of them coming in the decisive second half.

Lakers forward Lamar Odom was suspended by the league for one game Tuesday because of a flagrant foul on Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen on Sunday at Staples Center. Odom will sit out Friday’s game against Philadelphia and will forfeit $120,441 in pay.

There were not that many movements in the world of basketball Wednesday. In fact, there was only one related to the NBA, where the WASHINGTON WIZARDS signed G Mike Wilks.

Yesterday we witnessed a great tonight between the Suns and Spurs. Of course, both the teams haven’t been as dominant this year as some expected. Though the Spurs have to restrain their ardour because of the injuries to Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. Now, Duncan is back and Parker is on the shelf. Maybe because of that the Suns showed better results in that match-up. Let’s see what will be next.

The Boston Celtics have recently played against the Miami Heat and showed some interesting things about this current edition of the fabled Boston Celtics. The very beginning of the game was something like the Celtics thought it was the 5th quarter of the 45 point blow out of the Knicks. The players were a bit fussy, but anyway managed to get it through and win.

Reading Rockets got their second defeat of the season in an intensive sport performance with a well organized, well motivated and aggressive Thunder team who rolled all the game throughout. The absence of Dave Titmuss, the head coach of the team, because of illness notable influenced the game. Assistant Matt Johnson was dreadfully dissatisfied with a poor display.

Paul Pierce had nineteen points and twelve assists. Kevin Garnett scored twenty-two points and the Celtics broke open a truly tight game in the 4th quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 113-103 yesterday. Ray Allen scored twelve points for the Celtics (15-2), but it was James Posey and Eddie House who sank the big three-pointers that let the NBA-best Celtics remain undefeated in their division.