Of the 30 teams in the NBA, perhaps the Portland Trail Blazers are one of the least healthy squads out there. Their list is large by league standards: Nicolas Batum (shoulder surgery), Travis Outlaw (broken foot), Rudy Fernandez (leg pain) and Greg Oden (broken kneecap). That should give you an idea what shape this team is in. Another name they are resisting the urge to add to the list is one LaMarcus Aldridge.

Aldridge is suffering from a sore right ankle; but being the stand-up guy that he is (pun unintended), he was in their lineup when the Blazers hosted the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night. Based on his effort during the game, I’d hate to think how good he would be if his ankle was healthy. He and Brandon Roy combined for 50 points, leading Portland to a 95-88 win over a pesky Sacramento squad at the Rose Garden.

The Trail Blazers led by as many as nine in the first quarter, but the Kings responded in the second quarter and took a 36-33 lead on a Spencer Hawes bank shot; Sacramento increased their lead to 51-40 on former Blazer Ime Udoka’s 3-pointer late in the half and would go into halftime ahead 54-43.

Portland chipped away at the Kings’ lead, tying the game at 56-all on an Aldridge dunk; they would grab the lead at 62-60 on a Martell Webster dunk. The Kings would reclaim the lead at 69-66 on a Jason Thompson jumper, then extended it with a Tyreke Evans layup and an Omri Casspi dunk. Sacramento took a 73-66 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Portland reduced it to 78-76 on a Jerryd Bayless layup; they narrowed it again to 81-79 on Roy’s layup then would tie things up on an Aldridge layup.

They would pull ahead on an Aldridge layup with 3:02 left in the game; another Aldridge layup and free throw to give the Trail Blazers an 89-85 lead with 1:37 remaining. Bayless scored the team’s last six points to seal the win for Portland.

Aldridge and Roy shared high scoring honors for the Trail Blazers as they scored 25 points each – with Aldridge grabbing 9 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists while Roy grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 10 assists; Bayless chipped in 14 with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. The Kings were led by Evans with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block while Thompson added 18 with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a block; Beno Udrih poured in 17 with a rebound, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Portland (15-11) plays again on Thursday when they host the Phoenix Suns while Sacramento (10-13) returns home to host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.