Los Angeles - For the past six seasons the Portland Trail Blazers have been road kill in San Antonio, but on Wednesday night they became road warriors.

Brandon Roy scored 26 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 14 of his 20 in the third quarter as the Trail Blazers overcame an early 19-point deficit to charge past the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 95-83.

"We won at one of the toughest teams in the league, in April, and they needed a win," said Roy, after his club outscored the Spurs 79-50 in the final three quarters. "So we got to use it if we want it to be something special."

With their first victory in 12 tries at San Antonio since 2002, the Trail Blazers moved into a three-way tie with the Spurs and idle Houston Rockets for third-place in the Western Conference playoff race with identical 50-28 records.

"Getting 50 games, that's a big goal," said Blazers big man Greg Oden, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds off the bench. "We just want to keep on winning, trying to get home court for the playoffs."

Roger Mason scored 18, Frenchman Tony Parker added 17 for San Antonio, which has split its first two games since learning on Monday Argentine ace Manu Ginobili will miss the rest of the season with a right ankle stress fracture.

Tim Duncan scored just four points from two-of-eight shots in 24 minutes on a pair of sore knees, before being taken out for good with 7:08 left, even though the Spurs trailed by only seven.

"I didn't like the way he moved on a loose ball, so I just pulled him," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's all got to do with his health, not standings or anything like that."

Parker says Duncan has been a true warrior to play with such pain.

"People don't realize Timmy's been playing on one leg for like a month and a half," he said. "We can't pay attention to that. We just have to take a challenge and play harder. In the playoff there is no back-to-back, so that's good for us."

Elsewhere: Dallas Mavericks 130, Utah Jazz 101 German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, Jason Terry added 21 and the Mavericks clinched a Western Conference playoff spot and a share of the seventh seed with the Jazz.

Phoenix Suns 105, New Orleans Hornets 100 Steve Nash had 24 points, including six free throws in the final 42 seconds along with 17 assists and the visiting Suns held off a late rush to beat the playoff-bound Hornets. Chris Paul topped New Orleans with 29 points and 16 assists, while David West added 28 points and 12 rebounds.

Denver Nuggets 122, Oklahoma City Thunder 112 Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, Linas Kleiza had 12 of his 17 in the final quarter and the surging Nuggets moved a step closer to clinching the second seed in the Western Conference playoff hunt with their eighth straight win. Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 31 points.

Cleveland Cavaliers 98, Washington Wizards 86 LeBron James scored 21 points before sitting out the final quarter, and the Cavs got back at the visiting Wizards for snapping their franchise-record 13-game winning streak last Thursday. With the victory Cleveland (63-15 overall, 38-1 at home) moved 1.5 games ahead of idle LA Lakers for the NBA's best-record with four remaining.

Boston Celtics 106, New Jersey Nets 104 Rajon Rondo had 31 points with nine rebounds, and the Celtics' fifth straight victory kept the reigning NBA champions one game ahead of Orlando for the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. Vince Carter had 22 points with 12 rebounds for New Jersey, which was eliminated from post-season play, earlier in the evening.

Orlando Magic 81, Memphis Grizzlies 78 Turkish native Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points, JJ Redick had all his nine during a 19-7 fourth quarter run, rallying the Magic over the pesky Grizzlies. Rudy Gay netted 18 points for visiting Memphis, which was outscored 26-15 in the final frame.

Atlanta Hawks 113, Milwaukee Bucks 105 Joe Johnson scored 30 points and the Hawks moved 3.5 games ahead of idle Miami for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

Detroit Pistons 113, New York Knicks 86 Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, Antonio McDyess had 13 with 16 rebounds and the visiting Pistons pulled into a seventh-place tie with idle Chicago in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Indiana Pacers 130, Toronto Raptors 101 Danny Granger scored 29 points, Jarrett Jack added 23 and Pacers roughed up the visiting Raptors with their most-lopsided victory of the season.

Minnesota Timberwolves 105, Golden State Warriors 97 Sebastian Telfair scored 21 points, Kevin Love added 20 points with 12 rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the visiting Timberwolves ended the Warriors' three-game winning streak