http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291111016
MINNEAPOLIS -- Greg Oden sure looked like a franchise center Wednesday night.
Oden had 18 points and 11 rebounds in three quarters to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 107-84 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rudy Fernandez added 15 points for the Blazers, who have won four in a row and are off to their best start since 1999 at 6-3.
Jonny Flynn had 15 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost eight in a row since a season-opening win over New Jersey.
Oden was the No. 1 overall pick in 2007. But he missed his first season because if a knee injury, then was underwhelming in 61 games for the Blazers last season.
Against the smaller Timberwolves, he looked like the dominant player he was at Ohio State. Oden commanded double- and triple-teams in the post, challenged shots on defense and threw down dunk after rim-rattling dunk against a Timberwolves team that is looking more confused and overwhelmed by the day.
They lost by 41 points to struggling Golden State on Monday and have been outscored by 87 points in the last three games.
Al Jefferson, who is still recovering from knee surgery in February and has not yet regained the lift in his legs, was no match for Oden on the interior. Giving up two inches and at least 20 pounds, Jefferson was consistently overpowered down low, and his teammates were usually late getting over to help.
Jefferson finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
Oden's alley-oop dunk from Roy gave Portland a 58-46 lead early in the third quarter, and the Blazers cruised the rest of the way for the easy victory.
The big man even ran the break with LaMarcus Aldridge in the second quarter, finishing a 2-on-1 with a tomahawk jam to get things rolling.
The Timberwolves know the first year under coach Kurt Rambis and president David Kahn is going to be a long one. From the start, Rambis has emphasized energy and effort over victory every step of the way. After spirited efforts early against the Celtics, Suns and Clippers, the Wolves have looked frustrated and disillusioned at times lately.
They lost 116-93 at Portland on Sunday, then gave up franchise-record 146 points to the lowly Warriors on Monday.
The Timberwolves showed more hustle in the early going on Wednesday, leading 23-18 after the first quarter and holding Portland to 35 percent shooting.
But the Blazers started knocking down many of the open jumpers they easily found against Minnesota's porous defense in the second quarter and put the game away with a 35-point third period.
Game notes
Blazers C Joel Przybilla, a native of small-town Monticello and former University of Minnesota star, swatted a dunk attempt by Corey Brewer in the third period. Two fans said, "You don't bring that into Stearns County!" ... The Wolves were so bad defensively that Portland executed a rare point guard-to-point guard alley oop in the fourth when Jerryd Bayless threw down a pass from Andre Miller, who had 10 assists.
Oden has looked great for 4 games in a row now..when he's on the court, he's beastly..definitely one of the best defenders in the NBA so far..I wonder how he would look if he had his team setting him up for easy dunks all game LOL(Bynum: 23% dunks so far, 88% assisted)..
well, it's about ing time. i hope Oden becomes a force because the NBA needs some good big men again.
I hope he continues to get better this season since i have him on my fantasy team.
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