It was a rough night for injuries in Portland on Wednesday, but in some ways the pain was well worth it.

First Brandon Roy left before the half with a hyper-extended right knee only to come out and start the third quarter, then minutes later Steve Blake went down but did not return.

But by beating the Golden State Warriors, Portland is now in lone possession of first place in the Northwest Division with Denver idle, and the walking wounded will take the next couple of days to hopefully heal before heading on a seven-game road trip which starts January 13th in Toronto.

Still, it's hard to look past the injuries.

Roy said it "scared the hell" out of him when his foot got caught underneath him on his fall to the floor right before the half. The knee is sore but he'll be good to go for the upcoming roadie. As for Blake, afterwards he said it was the worst he's been hurt before, after he received a knee to the back of his left calf. When asked if he'll be able to practice on Friday, Blake sounded uncertain replying, "we'll see".

He's pretty much leaving it up to the Blazers training staff at this point.

And what a night for Blake to go down. By the way he was shooting, Blake was on his way to a career night. He left one point shy of his career high.

Now Blake, Roy and any other ailing Blazer (see Channing Frye and James Jones) will have at least a day to rest as Portland will take treatment tomorrow and watch game film.

With the win Portland rattled off their 12th straight homecourt victory, are riding a modest four-game win streak,  and have won 17 of their last 18 games. It also marks the first time the Blazers have been in first place in the division since March 1, 2001 when the Blazers were 41-18.

So how does it feel to be in on top?

"It feels good. That was the challenge tonight," McMillan said. "There are different challenges every night. Tonight was first place and to protect home court. They've earned the right to be here."

And now the road awaits.... 

Steve Blake left the game with about three minutes left in the third quarter and it's unknown at this time if he will return.

Blake took a knee by Monta Ellis to the back of his left calf and went down, pounding his fist on the court in pain.

Blake leads the Blazers with 24 points and is 5-6 from three-point land.

The Blazers may once again have to play the second half of a game without Brandon Roy.

Roy "hyper-extended his knee and may return" the Blazers said.

Roy went down with 1:15 remaining in the first half and laid on the Rose Garden floor clutching his right knee, with a everyone fearing this may be more than tweak or sprain. Blazers owner Paul Allen stood by with a concerned look on his face. Roy was helped off the floor by trainer Jay Jenson and accompanied to the locker room by GM Kevin Pritchard.

Roy originally drove down the lane before jumping in the air and kicking the ball out to James Jones. But when Roy came down he landed awkward on his left leg, and was  obviously in pain.

Before Roy's injury, the story had been Portland jumping out to an early 17 point lead with the Warriors shooting 33% in the first quarter only to have Golden State surge back to cut the lead to 8.

Your player of the game thus far? Steve Blake-20 points, 4-5 from beyond the arc.

Now concerns turn to an injured Brandon Roy, while Portland prepares to possibly continue without the help of Roy once again.

Brandon Roy is staying true to his word.

Roy said Tuesday at practice he would "give it a go" Wednesday against Golden State and now with tipoff now minutes away Roy said he feels better and will play, despite injuring his tailbone last week.

How long he will last is a question that will be answered in the game.

Head coach Nate McMillan had his own way of checking to see if Roy was ready to go tonight against the always surprising Warriors.

"I gave him the test to see if he was really ready," McMillan said in his pregame press conference. "I told him he was guarding Baron Davis. I told him to either say he was a game time decision or he was ready. He said he was ready."

Last time with Golden State in Portland (a December 12th loss), everyone got a turn on Davis, a player the Blazers truly don't have an answer for. Roy had his turn, so did Martell Webster and Steve Blake.

But Davis, at 6'3 and 215 pounds, is perhaps the best point guard in the league according to Blazers assistant coach Monty Williams. Williams told HOOPSWORLD it's a close call between Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Baron Davis but Davis gets the nod for muscling up on the block, even if Kidd plays on a more winning club. McMillan could only agree but also added Davis wasn't behind Kidd and Nash necessarily.....

The good new for Portland, Kidd and Nash aren't at the Rose Garden tonight. The bad news? Baron Davis is.

See you at the half....

The last time Golden State came to Portland, they were fresh off beating the San Antonio Spurs the night before only to lose to the Blazers as Rip City was starting its roll to 13-straight.

Well, guess what? The Warriors enter the Rose Garden having beaten the Spurs (in overtime) again on Monday night, and can only hope the past doesn't repeat itself when it comes to facing one of the hottest teams in the league.

With Portland 9-1 in their last 10 games, winners of 16 out of their last 17 and tied for first place with the Denver Nuggets in the Northwest Division, it's going to be the same hard fought battle as it was back on December 12th between these two clubs, that's for sure.

Plenty of concerns around Portland right now and the health of Brandon Roy.

He played 9 minutes, 27 seconds Saturday night against the Utah Jazz.

But despite the "very painful" tailbone, he's been nurshing, Roy apparently plans on playing Wednesday night, this after sitting out practice Monday and participated in drills on Tuesday. Although he is still listed as a game-time decision, look for B-Roy to be ready.

How long he will play is another story.

The Warriors signed guard CJ Watson from the NBDL to a 10-day contract on Tuesday to provide a serviceable back-up for Baron Davis. The 6-2 Watson averaged 26.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 steals in 16 games for the D-league's Rio Grande Valley Vipers.....apparently the kid is getting a chance to shine before Gary Payton gets the call.

Join me tonight for Courtside Blog as Portland looks to stay undefeated in January. I'll be providing live pregame, halftime, and postgame updates on the Blazers/Warriors so if you have any questions on the latest from the Rose Garden, throw your questions my way and I'll check back throughout the day.

See you at gametime....