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 Roy had 27 points and nine assists, playing biggest during a game-deciding 12-2 run in the fourth quarter to lift Portland to a 103-96 victory Tuesday night.
The Timberwolves drafted Roy in the first round two years ago, but traded him to the Blazers for Randy Foye and cash on draft night. Foye missed the first half of this season with a knee injury, and Roy was rookie of the year last year and has been even better in his second season.
Al Jefferson scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth and Rashad McCants had 18 off the bench for the Timberwolves, who hovered around 55 percent shooting for most of the game but couldn't come up with the big shot down the stretch.
Roy struggled with his shot for the first three quarters, but got to the basket at will in the fourth to rally the Blazers. LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 points and James Jones had 13 off the bench.
Jefferson had a tough time with Portland's attacking double-team, but he scored six points during an 8-2 spurt midway through the fourth quarter to give Minnesota a 90-85 lead.
The Blazers came right back with that 12-2 run, with Roy scoring on a pretty drive and then delivering a pinpoint pass to Joel Przybilla for a layup.
After Jefferson cut the lead to 97-94 with just over 1 minute to go, Roy scored on another drive and added a couple of free throws to ice the game.
Portland improved to 3-1 on their five-game road trip, which wraps up Thursday at Sacramento.
The Blazers started the night in 10th place in the Western Conference, two spots out of the playoffs and six games behind the eighth-place Golden State Warriors. They let one slip away in a loss to Cleveland on Monday night, squandering a 13-point lead to LeBron James, but rebounded with a spirited second-half effort after allowing the Wolves to shoot 59 percent in the first half.
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Thoughts of the postseason in Minnesota went bye-bye a long time ago, perhaps as early as July when they traded Kevin Garnett to Boston.
They have started a slogan of "Let's Build It" and hope to use the final 20 games of the season to gain some momentum heading into Year 2 of the rebuilding plan.
It started with two straight road wins on their most recent West Coast trip, over Sacramento and the Clippers. That's a first for this season, but they weren't able to build on it to get their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Notes: Wolves coach Randy Wittman said MRI results on PG Sebastian Telfair's left ankle showed only a sprain. A timetable for his return is still uncertain, though Wittman said at least seven to 10 days Monday. "It's going to be a little while," Wittman said. ... Former Vikings "Purple People Eater" Carl Eller attended the game.
[Associated Press; By JON KRAWCZYNSKI]
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